“But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” (1
Corinthians 14:40)
A security assessment is an inspection of a person, place, asset,
process, or program to evaluate the current condition of safety, security and
preparedness for an emergency. It
considers risk sources, the nature of threats and the potential for harm.
A thorough safety and security assessment will include reviewing
and inspecting:
1) Safety:
Accidents, illness, injuries, potential harm, to people or the
organization.
2) Security:
Crimes, violence, loss or damage from any cause.
3) Emergency Preparedness:
Response and recovery related to any harmful event or situation of any
kind—including plans to be a resource for assistance if an emergency occurs in
the community.
4) Continuity Planning:
Prepare to continue services and programs without significant interruption.
5) The overall status of each component of a safe and secure place
of worship:
This means anything related to the place of worship or its assets
and activities that can be inspected, reviewed, inventoried or evaluated, as
designated by church leaders.
The security program of a place of worship is ongoing with priorities
based on factors affecting the specific place of worship and concerns of church
leaders. A safety and security
assessment must be a continual process, re-evaluated annually. Your priorities should be established based
on historical data and community circumstances.
Some of the people who purposely or accidently cause harm may be members
of the congregation, former members, visitors, staff, volunteers or
employees. The list of potential sources
of harm should remind us to not make assumptions about people or situations
when the safety or security of the congregation is at stake.
You can have one person or a team do the assessment, although a
team can provide a far more balanced approach and avoid being focused on one
aspect of the process. Because
assessments may take a great deal of time, some of the team members may not be
able to assist directly but may be able to work on other aspects of the
assessment, such as word processing, phone surveys of members, reviewing
reports, internet research, etc.
Some possible tips for the success of your assessment may include:
1) Delegate responsibilities to avoid over-whelming people.
Responsibilities need to be shared.
It can also be helpful to do some parts of the assessment with a series
of questionnaires and checklists for people responsible for the areas or
activities being assessed.
2) Schedule Assessment Sessions.
Schedule the areas to be assessed based on priorities, locations,
and time available. Sessions can as
short as an hour up to several hours.
Two to three hours seems to be a reasonable time span that is most
effective for volunteer teams.
3) Make a Plan.
There are many approaches to the process. Based on the size of your church and your unique
situation it will help your assessment team to have a schedule, a plan of
action and a process to follow that ensures you assess everything effectively.
4) Choose a Team Leader.
The team works better when someone takes the lead to coordinate,
schedule and make sure the paperwork is done.
5) Team Should Be Small.
The actual assessment process works best with no more than three or
four people.
6) Be Sure to Do a Comprehensive Assessment.
The best way to prevent harm to people and property is to avoid
focusing only on immediate concerns.
Think long-range.
7) Carefully Take Detailed Notes.
Take the time to write in a clear, concise and orderly manner for
ease of reporting and typing.
8) Guard Against Internal Conflicts.
The most common problems seem to be:
a. Some people are in a
rush to finish the job, while others are taking their time.
b. Disagreements about
concerns or solutions.
c. Loss of interest and
lack of participation.
9) As soon as possible, write up a report from your notes and
provide copies for church leaders.
The report should contain:
a. All observed risks.
b. If noted, any
positive observations.
c. Opinions and comments
on all observations.
d. Recommendations and
timelines for completion.
There are probably many people in your community who are a good resource
in their area of expertise for information. You wouldn’t ask them to assist in the assessment but they would be happy to help keep churches safe and secure. For example, most law enforcement officers
are not trained in security assessments but they can apply their experience and
insights to the process. When doing the
assessment there will be a need for a variety of supplies and equipment.
Be prepared with the following items:
1) Flashlight.
Each person on the assessment should have one. Spare batteries should be kept on hand.
2) A mid to full sized flathead screwdriver.
It is often handy to have something with a tip not easily broken
that can remove screws or pry something open.
3) A three-ring binder and pen.
It will protect contents which can be plain paper or pre-printed
assessment forms with questions. They
can be opened and flipped through as needed.
4) Digital camera.
You will want to be able to take close-ups to document any issues
found. These can easily be referred back
to at any time to support your notes when writing reports. Make sure it has a good optical viewfinder
and not only an LCD screen. This will
allow easier viewing under a greater variety of lighting conditions. Be sure to carry spare batteries.
5) Keys to all door locks.
Make sure you have the keys that will allow you to get into all
office spaces, closets, or other storage areas.
Don’t forget to assess key control as well.
6) Emergency plans and procedures.
Copies of any previously produces emergency plans for the spaces
you encounter during the assessment.
7) Cell phones and contact numbers.
Phone numbers for any staff that you may need to question during
the assessment.
8) Moist hand wipes.
Detailed assessments can be dirty, dusty work. You may need to clean your hands periodically
during the assessment.
Assessing spaces and places.
Look at the space from the viewpoint of people who want to commit a
crime or attack people violently and ask yourself these questions:
1) What may be their age?
2) How many might there be?
3) How will they be using the space?
4) What they do, accidentally or on purpose, to cause harm?
5) What are the risks to them and threats to others?
Consider what might be under, around, or over the space. Is there open space above the ceiling? In each space you assess, stand or sit and
thoroughly look at each aspect of the room—floor to ceiling. Think about the obvious and not so obvious
risks, threats and responses.
You will probably find that the most useful thinking will be done during
“what if” discussions. These will help
you consider emergency responses and how to make sure people know what to do,
and how to do it.
Some examples:
1) How is the space used? When is it used?
2) Who is responsible for the area?
3) What harmful thing might happen?
4) What could prevent it from happening?
5) What actions might reduce the harm if the event occurred?
6) What emergency responses should be taken if the event occurs?
7) Who needs to be trained or informed? How?
Take the immediacy approach.
Rather than wondering if something will happen:
1) What should people in or near this room do when ______________________
happens?
2) How will they know to do it?
3) Can it be done given the current situation?
Make notes about each space.
Take photos. Before you leave the
space, make sure you can say you have looked at every wall, surface, item and
aspect of the space before you move on to the next space. Many security consultants and most volunteers
in a place of worship assess the facility one time—often on a weekday—and call
it done. A thorough assessment requires
assessing during various times and circumstances.
Plan on assessing at least part of the facility and some of the
programs on weekends, at night, during the week, during services and during
selected special events.
Always remember to:
1) Interview staff and employees.
Often the employees who are there every day have noticed safety and security
issues but not shared them. You can also
use the time to ask them about their emergency response plans.
2) Assess areas that are open to the public but have limited people
present most times.
3) Observe the impact of weekday traffic, foot traffic around and
through the property, bus and school bus stops, staff parking situations, door
security, pre-school, school or daycare.
4) Meet with other resources who work during the day—fire, police, maintenance
resources, etc.
5) Thoroughly examine most of the facility and perimeter in full
light.
The material I have presented here can help you get started
assessing the safety and security of your place of worship. As with all activities it requires effort and
a degree of knowledge and skills. However, anyone with the commitment to be
thorough and focused, yet well-balanced and reasonable, can do an effective
job.
My goal was to give you the basic information, ideas and the
guidelines you need to conduct an effective assessment of your place of
worship, and to encourage a focused and well-balanced approach to safety and
security planning.
May God bless you as you seek to care for and protect the “sheep”
God has placed under your care.
Be Safe!
Russ Sharrock
I have made available for FREE, to anyone interested, a series of Do-it-Yourself forms that can 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.
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
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