Developing a Church Security Plan

“They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat….. Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us." Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes. When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.” (Nehemiah 4:8-9, 12-15)

Developing a church security plan is the first step in safeguarding the security and safety of the congregation at your church.  Get together a team tasked with investigating the situation in detail and presenting the options available to you.  Always try to have at least one person on the team who actually has experience in something like private security, law enforcement, military, or emergency management.

Decide how many people you want in on the church security plan and then choose at least three, but not more than eight, people to be in on the team.  The exact number of people depends on the number of people in the church.  Always ensure that there are people knowledgeable in a variety of areas within the team. 

The team has to gather facts about likely security situations, including in the community as a whole before coming up with a church security plan.  They have to identify potential threats and what the church is legally able to do to deal with those threats.  If possible, have the team go through specialized training using a seminar or something to that effect.  Invite experts (in house or otherwise) to do that.  Aside from that, you can read books and manuals available online to get a general idea of what you can do.  Try to commission a professional team to conduct a risk assessment on the church.  It will pay for itself.  If that is not possible based on the church budget, get a security check list (If you wish I can supply this) which you can go through as a team.  Use a professional private security company or law local enforcement agency as a resource.

Have the team prepare a draft church security plan to be reviewed by the leaders of the church.  Run it by a private security company or local police department who can then make an assessment of the plan.  It needs to take into account different layers of the security team.  Plan for the parking lot attendants; include the greeters and volunteers both outside and inside, ushers within the sanctuary and the people involved in security for the pastors. There has to be a system of coordination and cooperation between all the layers.  This will ensure that threats are identified and neutralized as fast as possible.

All the personnel in each of the different layers must have their duties and areas of responsibility spelled out in the church security plan.  The plan must also spell out the specific ways of dealing with different disruptions. Other scenarios to be dealt with are instances of violence, as well as the personal safety of the pastor and other clergy members who are more vulnerable to attack than ordinary parishioners.  Include within the church security plan detailed procedures for evacuation or lock down if need be.  Detail the equipment needed for implementation of the church security plan, which may include security cameras. 

Finally, the church security plan has to include information on how to communicate during crises, both within the church security team and to the congregation.  This includes communication with local law enforcement agencies which have to be furnished with the church security plan, accompanied by illustration of the layout of the church campus and any other relevant information.  This ensures that they can respond effectively to any distress calls.  The church security plan should include recommended budgetary allocations for personnel, equipment and training.  The amount of money to be spent on church security has to be able to fit in with the overall church budget.  Look into free training opportunities to save money.

Security personnel can either be hired directly by a church or they can be forwarded by an agency contracted by the church.  Hiring private security personnel directly makes the church directly responsible for conducting appropriate screening and for any legal consequences arising from the security guard’s actions.  Police officers who are off duty can be hired as part of the church security team because of their training and experience, although not every officer has training specific to providing for church security.  Make this decision very carefully after consulting church staff and/or elders, professional private security companies, the local police department and insurers.

Rate the effectiveness of the church security plan by simulating different scenarios.  This will help to reveal any weaknesses in the plan.  Try out the lockdown and evaluation procedures, the communication between team members and with the congregation.  Testing will help to know how good the church security plan is.

Be safe! 

Russ Sharrock

 

I have developed and made available, for FREE, to anyone interested a series of Security & safety forms that can be printed for your use:

1) A Safety & Security Risk Assessment Form
2) Church Safety & Security Plan Template

3) Church Emergency Plan Template

4) A General Fire Safety Checklist

5) A Bomb Threat Checklist

6) A Bomb Threat Distance Chart:  Covers various types of explosive devises to be referred to in an event of a bomb threat evacuation.  These are minimum distances to evacuate away from the area of explosive device.

These MS Word documents can be changed as necessary to fit your church size and needs.  I will be adding new forms as time allows.

For a copy of any of these FREE forms, or if you have any questions, you can contact me at:

 

Integrity Security Consulting

Russ Sharrock

405-762-2471 | integrityseccon@hotmail.com

Or message me on my personal FB account.