"Uniqueness" of Church Security

[echo5whiskey]

Recently, I've been party to a discussion regarding church security. With the latest active shooter events in several churches, I have heard a lot of folks pushing for a consultation with one of the companies who "specialize" in church security. At first glance, it sounds logical, but after giving it some thought, I have questions. What makes church security so unique, and why must there be a "specialty?" How is securing a church so much different than securing a school or store or office building? Some of the initial information I've seen and heard seems almost gimmicky, so maybe someone can help me understand.

For the record, I have no dogs in the fight. I attend a very small church, and we have (IMO) a pretty solid plan for our size. I've been speaking with others who attend larger congregations.

Also for the record, I have a pretty solid base of knowledge and experience with general physical security and security plans. While the church I attend now is small, I have been a member of several larger churches before, so I am pretty familiar with what [I believe] the requirements would be.

[VARIABLE9]

soft target
lack of hardened security measures
lack of electronic security measures (CCTV monitoring, metal detectors)
vulnerable parishoners such as women, elderly, children, even non security minded individuals (we are with god in a safe place...)
lack of desire to have 'guards' to set a negative image
guards that may not be a deterrent (unarmed or more like ushers, untrained, et cetera)
published or vocalized by congregation leadership to have a weapons free zone

[VARIABLE9]

lets not forget:
backs to entrance
no practice for emergency egress plan
limited mobility due to pews
limited emergency egress routes

[SeriousStudent]

You should also look into the current laws here in Texas requiring armed guards to be licensed. Gov Abbott has discussed introducing legislation to change that, but it's still the law.

Some additional reading:

https://www.texasfirearmscoalition.c...ty-teams-chl-s

http://www.dps.texas.gov/rsd/psb/

Since you are here in Texas, I would reach out to Steve Moses.

http://gracietyler.com/trainer/steve-moses/

Steve is a good dude, and a friend. He teaches seminars on church security, and would have good info for your congregation.

[The_War_Wagon]

It's a matter of concern for me as well. Being in the northeast urban cessmaze, I'm more concerned about the pink tutu brigade busting through our door some morning - or possibly mohammedans (doctrinally, we oppose them both) - but as Sutherland Springs proved, small churches are not beyond the random crazoid.

Thankfully, MOST of what I've been reading on "church security," takes a lot of practical things into consideration, like, are your fire extinguishers functional? Do you have an AED, and are people trained to use it? Are you prepared for hazardous inclement weather (blizzard, tornado, hurricane, etc.)? They deal with OVERALL "security/emergency planning," and those sorts of concerns are still more likely for MOST churches, than an active shooter.

THAT said, the active shooter IS the MOST daunting challenge of all. MOST PD's have never dealt with an active mass shooter, much less even highly motivated, well-trained church security details. We had an eye-opening experience this past January, when a local SWAT situation went down around our church. The SWAT team brought local residents into our church (right as church was letting out - those still inside were locked down for 2+ hours), making for an unexpected 'emergency' on our part - dealing with half-naked, confused neighbors & children, and roving police moving throughout our church, ed building, and campus (neighbors took pictures of SWAT snipers deployed in the parsonage yard behind the sanctuary!).

Problem we still have, is people more scared of insurance liability issues, than active shooters! Overcoming THAT mindset - to say nothing of CCW during the service - lends to institutional inertia, which leads to - another atrocity, waiting to happen.

[echo5whiskey]

soft target
lack of hardened security measures
lack of electronic security measures (CCTV monitoring, metal detectors)
vulnerable parishoners such as women, elderly, children, even non security minded individuals (we are with god in a safe place...)
lack of desire to have 'guards' to set a negative image
guards that may not be a deterrent (unarmed or more like ushers, untrained, et cetera)
published or vocalized by congregation leadership to have a weapons free zone

lets not forget:
backs to entrance
no practice for emergency egress plan
limited mobility due to pews
limited emergency egress routes

I get all that. But the ways to mitigate those issues seem like fairly standard responses. A church can harden physical security measures. Any place that is open to the public will most likely have a wide variety of fairly clueless occupants. There are a lot of places that don't want uniformed guards. Any members of a security team should undergo training. There are a lot of commercial places that have just as many or fewer exits than most churches that I've seen. About the only thing that stands out as being unique to a church would be pews, but even that can be comparable to the cubicles in an office setting.

[echo5whiskey]

You should also look into the current laws here in Texas requiring armed guards to be licensed. Gov Abbott has discussed introducing legislation to change that, but it's still the law.

Some additional reading:

https://www.texasfirearmscoalition.c...ty-teams-chl-s

http://www.dps.texas.gov/rsd/psb/

Since you are here in Texas, I would reach out to Steve Moses.

http://gracietyler.com/trainer/steve-moses/

Steve is a good dude, and a friend. He teaches seminars on church security, and would have good info for your congregation.

Thanks! I appreciate that insight. I will definitely try to reach out to him. Also, if it's alright, PM inbound with some further information that might shed more light.

[aclawrence]

I’m grateful to be part of a church that is fairly proactive in the security area. We call it our “safety awareness team”. We go through different training for different types of emergencies. You have to pass handgun training if you want to be on the team and carry. We’ve done some stuff ranging from basic medical stuff to worst case scenario active shooter. We definitely don’t have it all figured out or think we’re special or anything like that but I do feel our church is much more prepared and “safer” since we have gone through some training.


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[echo5whiskey]

I’m grateful to be part of a church that is fairly proactive in the security area. We call it our “safety awareness team”. We go through different training for different types of emergencies. You have to pass handgun training if you want to be on the team and carry. We’ve done some stuff ranging from basic medical stuff to worst case scenario active shooter. We definitely don’t have it all figured out or think we’re special or anything like that but I do feel our church is much more prepared and “safer” since we have gone through some training.


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Have you done anything of the sort outside of your church?

[aclawrence]

No I have not had any other “security” type training. We hired someone to come in and help with the training. I forget what his job title is but he does security for a variety of individual clients and other businesses. Also our group leader for our safety team is a local police chief. As far as the uniqueness of church security I’m not that it is that unique. One thing to consider is the separation of the kids from the adults. Lots of kids in one areas while most of the adults are in the sanctuary.


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