“Strangers are attacking me; ruthless men seek my life--men without
regard for God.” (Psalm 54:3)
I have been asked by various pastors and church members with
questions about forming some sort of “security team” of volunteers and is
focused on the legal concerns inherent in doing so. I believe that these well-intentioned
inquiries are often born of misconceptions about what security really means. It is important to understand what the goals
of church security ought to be and what can be done even on a small budget
without raising any legal concerns. The
goals of church security are the same as personal security inside the home, a
mall, or basically any building: deterrence, detection,
and response.
Let’s take a look at ways to accomplish these goals regardless of financial
limitations:
To potentially deter violent people,
you don’t have to have a big budget. It
is relatively inexpensive to hire an off-duty police officer or an armed
security guard to come stand outside the main entrance to the church. An overt
security presence might cause a would-be attacker to think twice before
following through with their plan. However, a determined attacker could simply
find a way around overt security measures. We have examples such as the Columbine school
massacre, where the murderers simply waited for the resource officer to leave
his post before beginning their attack. Overt
security measures in the form of uniformed officers may provide the
psychological “warm and fuzzy” that some people seek when they talk about
security, but aside from the possibility of deterrence, there is
nothing magical about having one uniformed officer (or even ten) on site.
In understanding this reality, church leaders should consider the
visible presence of armed personnel as only a small piece of the security
puzzle. It would be foolish to do what I
have seen some larger churches do by posting armed security guards and
simultaneously preventing legal concealed carry. Turning your church into a “gun-free zone”
when it is not designated as such by state law is no different than inviting
would-be violent persons into the facility.
Making the naïve assumption that overt security measures will be at
the right place at the right time, if and when something goes down, is very
shortsighted in my opinion, unless you plan to turn your church into a fortress
complete with metal detectors, pat-downs, etc. This is obviously not the type of atmosphere
most parishioners would be comfortable with and, even if it were, fortresses
such as courthouses and airports are often defeated by determined attackers. Do not view overt security measures as more
than what they are, and definitely don’t rely on them to the extent that you
take away the congregation’s ability to carry their own personal defensive
tools.
As previously mentioned, usually the individuals who approach me
are interested in getting volunteers from within the congregation trained and
licensed as security officers in order to form a legal church “security team.” Companies will come in and provide the
training to help churches get set up with the proper credentials and insurance
to make this happen. I would approach
this option with extreme caution. Becoming
a skilled personal-protection officer is not something you can do as a
part-time gig just because you are an Elder or deacon. Asking for volunteers will likely invite
overzealous individuals, well-meaning though they may be, to bite off more than
they can chew.
You don’t want to create a team of poorly trained amateurs and put
them in official positions of authority when it comes to security. I have seen companies and a few Christian
organizations do this and have yet to meet an amateur security team that I have
confidence in. In my opinion, it is best
to leave those services to actual professionals. If you happen to have some of those
professionals in your congregation, you have more options, but I would avoid
any sort of security team composed of amateurs, even if they are “licensed”
amateurs. If you understand the real
value of this type of team as discussed in the previous paragraph about overt
security in general, you will understand that regardless of whether or not you
choose this option, it is not the end-all, be-all.
With or without overt security, there are several methods we can
use to detect
potential violence inside a structure. The
most efficient method is to control access. Obviously, in a church setting, all are
welcome, which means we aren’t likely to have access badges or anything like
that for the main service. People can
literally come in off the street. That
being the case, the best way to control access to the church service is by
limiting entry options to monitored access points once the service has begun. If church services begin at a certain time,
all side doors that are not monitored should be closed and locked after that
time, so people cannot get into the service without someone seeing them.
Any nursery areas or places where children congregate outside the
main service should also have controlled access. Here, we do have the options of requiring ID
badges or employing door buzzers to help restrict access only to parents and
workers. You can go about as high tech
as you want to accomplish this goal. But
something as simple as an attendant sitting in front of a locked door with a
sign-in/out sheet is a good start. With
controlled access in place, we can see who is coming and going, and limit the
options for someone to slip in without being seen and/or engaged by someone.
If we make it such that someone is likely to be seen and/or engaged
by an usher or someone else when they come through the doors, we have the
opportunity to “size them up.” Whoever
is handing out bulletins or standing by the door greeting people ought to be
looking for obvious cues that an individual could become a problem. While it is true that a crafty individual bent
on bringing violence into a house of worship could blend in until they make
their move, obvious signs can often be observed simply through basic human
interaction. If something about the way
a person looks or acts raises a red flag, they can either be denied access or
watched more closely once allowed to enter. You have to trust your instincts on this if
you perceive something unnerving.
Everyone seems focused on the idea of an active shooter coming in
and laying waste to the congregation. However,
it is far more likely that other less shockingly violent situations could
transpire, domestic situations may erupt, mentally unstable or inebriated
individuals come into services and cause problems, etc. The list of more plausible scenarios goes on
and on before you get to the worst-case scenario of a mass murder. Recognizing the potential for a bad situation
before it occurs gives you more options to deal with things before they get out
of hand.
When deterrence doesn’t work and the detection
strategy either raises significant concerns about an individual or is avoided,
you must be ready to respond. Response can come in several forms. If an
individual appears to be a potential problem during the detection process, the response
could be asking them to leave and calling the police if they refuse. If an elderly person starts to have a stroke,
the response could be rendering aid and calling for an ambulance. That’s one we don’t think about often enough! You are far more likely to encounter a medical
emergency than any type of violence inside a church. Do you have a quality aid bag somewhere in the
sanctuary? Is there a quick
defibrillator in the building and someone on staff trained to use it? Having
the ability to respond appropriately to a medical emergency is far more
important than the ability to respond to the threat of violence.
If violence occurs, the response might mean fighting with
and possibly shooting the bad guy. Whether it is a domestic situation, an
inebriated person, or the worst-case scenario of an active shooter, if you have
uniformed officers or a church security team on site, they are a piece of the
response puzzle. But they may not always
be in the right place at the right time to stop the threat. Allowing and/or encouraging armed citizens to
carry their defensive tools in church gives each individual the ability to take
responsibility for their own security. That is really the crux of the misconception I
have seen when churches approach security.
There is no way a church can guarantee the security of the
congregation with or without a special team, just as there is no way a police
force can guarantee the security of the public. It is ultimately the individual’s
responsibility to defend him or herself when the chips are down. You can have all the overt security presence
you want, but if they aren’t in the right position to take immediate action,
the individual will live or die based on their own personal preparedness for
the attack.
If churches allow concealed carry, churches can and should offer
access to training programs for their members. There are tons of extra-curricular activities
that are offered to congregations on a weekly basis. Why not make personal defense training one of
them? Churches will likely be able to
find trainers who are willing to offer their services at discounted rates or
even pro-bono if the church wants to host a class. Doing this would be an easy win-win for the
individual armed citizen and the congregation as a whole.
Churches have numerous affordable options to take advantage of when
it comes to security, with the goals of deterrence, detection,
and response
in mind. Overt measures such as armed
security guards and resource officers are inexpensive and can provide a
potential deterrent
effect as well as a response option. Controlled access and behavioral recognition
techniques can help detect potential violence and stop it before it starts. Response can come in many forms,
from asking someone to leave, to calling the police, having overt security in
the right position to respond, and allowing armed citizens the ability to
defend themselves.
In addition, churches can and should encourage armed citizens to
train by offering classes from reputable trainers. Approaching security in this manner will be
effective regardless of your budget. While volunteer security teams are a possibility,
they should be approached with extreme caution from legal, financial liability,
and professionalism standpoints.
As
always, make sure you understand the laws in your state before implementing any
of the strategies presented here.
Be safe!
Russ Sharrock
Integrity
Security Consulting
_____________________________________________
I have available, for FREE, to anyone interested, a series of
Safety & Security forms that can be printed for your use:
1) A Safety & Security Risk Assessment Form.
2) Church Emergency Plan Template
3) A General Fire Safety Checklist
4) A Bomb Threat Checklist
5) 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
explosion.
6) Church Security Plan Template
6) Church Security Plan Template
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.
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