Church Security

**C4IGrant** · 03-29-09, 17:41

Anyone working with their local Church on Security issues/problems?

I attend a very large Church and am starting to get invovled with their Security Team.

Any lessons learned??

C4

**Oscar 319** · 03-29-09, 17:50

I just stumbled across this video today...

http://blutube.policeone.com/Clip.as...F496B751752789

**SeriousStudent** · 03-29-09, 18:31

Originally Posted by C4IGrant

......

Any lessons learned??

C4

Yes. I'll email you some of the specific steps we took.

One of the things we worked on was to make everything as unobtrusive as possible. The trained eye will see a lot, but we did not want to "scare anyone off," according to the desires of our board of elders.

Some of us had mixed feelings about that. I would prefer that a bad person go elsewhere, than to discover our security precautions in the middle of an incident.

But as in other parts of life, compromises were made so as to not startle people.

**John_Wayne777** · 03-29-09, 19:11

Originally Posted by C4IGrant

Anyone working with their local Church on Security issues/problems?

I attend a very large Church and am starting to get invovled with their Security Team.

Any lessons learned??

C4

I'm at a small church and our official security plan is to keep only one door open for people to come in, but all doors capable of exit. If an AS shows up the plan is to evacuate people in the quickest and most orderly manner possible.

The goal of the door situation is to funnel people through one opening where they can be reasonably contained...and where they have to get past me. I'm the "active" part of the security plan that nobody other than the pastor and a couple of select lay leaders know about. Wouldn't want to frighten people. Every individual who comes through the door gets greeted by the ushers. The ushers greet, I'm looking them over.

Larger churches have better resources available and more difficult issues. I know almost everyone who shows up to church every week, so strangers stand out. That's not an option for larger churches. Consulting with the local PD would probably be advisable, including some sort of training for your security folks on how to spot a possible threat, communication and coordination in response to a possible threat, and actions to take during an active threat.

**Steve** · 03-29-09, 23:21

One of the church teams i train has geared up to long guns now secured in a close but secured safe room this church as shots up to 150 yards......INSIDE

**johnclark075** · 03-29-09, 23:31

I interned at a church of about 3,000, because of the size there were LEO who attended. The church has a message system for all LEO's, they can pick up a "beeper" that will alert them if they are needed for any situation.

The church I am working at now has about 300 members. I am only part-time right now, but I am still finding out about the security situation and what precautions are in place.

**C4IGrant** · 03-30-09, 09:14

Good info guys.

C4

**John_Wayne777** · 03-30-09, 09:16

Something else...if there's anyone else in the arrangements geared like you are, getting them to learn some basic team CQB would probably be a good idea.

**C4IGrant** · 03-30-09, 09:18

Originally Posted by John_Wayne777

Something else...if there's anyone else in the arrangements geared like you are, getting them to learn some basic team CQB would probably be a good idea.

I am the only one like my kind there.

IMHO, they are sheep TRYING to become sheepdogs. I am a wolf trying to become a sheepdog.

C4