Church Security Answer Man: Recent Episodes
Captain Joe Puckett
The Church Security Answer Man discusses current violence trends, security issues and safety ideas with a goal to improve the stable operation of our churches and ministries. Show topics include relative incidents which occur or have occurred, ways to improve safety and security as well as ways that we can train our staff and volunteers and preplan for unfortunate incidents.
Are you comfortable with your firearm, including drawing, aiming and firing under pressure. We are not talking about just standing and shooting to get the best looking target, we are talking about practicing the whole process and knowing your limitations. Plus, listeners question.
We are not the police, we can stand our ground to protect our people and property, but what are the options if we had a protest or riot at our church?
In this episode Captain Joe Puckett discusses his thoughts on how to deal with social distancing, hugging, handshakes and other Corona Virus related guidelines. He will also review some important security items for us to remember since we have not been in church for awhile.
5 Major Incidents That We Are Reviewing:
- 78 year old female beaten when opening church for services
- Shooting of pastor and 2 others in Selma, Alabama church
- Nigel Barnes who steals purses from church offices
- 3 church employees embezzling from church over a 7 year period
- 74 year old female gardening at church, beaten and car stolen
Questions we ask and answer in today's podcast
- Do we need background checks on everyone?
- Who should we be doing background checks on?
- Where do I go for background checks?
- Why and Who should our ministry screen?
- How do I choose a background screening provider?
- What’s involved in the screening process?
- Is a check of my state’s sex offender registry enough?
- Do I need written permission to screen an employee/volunteer?
- Can I obtain a check on an employee or volunteer's driving records?
- Where can I find more information about background screening?
We can remove disruptive people.
- Churches are private property, open to the public.
- You can restrict or revoke a persons access to your property
- We can remove disruptive people - Preferring
- Screening people at the door and keeping them out is preferred
- We should train greeters and ushers to spot potential problems
- We should train in good communication skills
- We should try to avoid physical confrontation
- Don't be afraid to call 911 and get police responding
- Police are trained to deal with difficult people and these situations
- If a person interrupts our service - I believe we should press charges
- Don't be afraid, the law is on your side, that you can ask them to leave
#1 Risk Assessments and Security Evaluations
Internal risks involve threats that exist inside the institution’s campus or building. External risks are those that stem from the site’s physical location.
#2 Harden the Target
A strengthening of the security of an individual premise with the goal of reducing or minimizing potential criminal attack, risks, or vulnerabilities.
#3 Protecting Financial Assets
Financial threats to a house of worship include the crimes of robbery, embezzlement, theft, and fraud.
#4 is Protecting our Children and Youth
Every Ministry should operate within policies and procedures that balance the mission of the ministry with the inherent risks associated with children’s programming
#5 A Media Strategy or a Reputation Strategy
No discussion of crisis response would be complete without addressing the need to be prepared to respond to inquiries from the media and the public. A “no comment” response is not considered a response; it is a dodge
10 Practices to minimize theft of ministry monies
1. Rotation
Volunteers and employees who help with counting the offering should be rotated on a regular basis. No one should stay in the role indefinitely and the use of multiple, unrelated people will make it more difficult to skim dollars from the offering. Routes should also be rotated…how do we take the money from collection in the auditorium to the office or counting room. When it comes to rotation, also rotating who takes the money to the bank and the routes which they use to take the money to the bank.
2. Safes
Cash and checks should be kept securely in a locked safe until it is delivered to the bank. Get a safe with a drop slot so that it doesn’t require someone to open it to make a deposit into it. Have a policy that the safe is only opened by two people and the combination is limited to a few people who do not have a key to the room the safe is kept.
3. Two-Person Rule
The cash handling policy should have a strict two person rule, stating that there will always be a minimum of two people when cash is handled, counted or transported. The two people should not be related and should not have personal financial issues.
4. Background/Credit Checks
In today’s society it is only wisdom to perform a background check on all church employees and volunteers but people who have access to church funds should also be subjected to a credit check.
5. Watch for Warning Signs
There are many signs you can watch for but a few to think about are:
- Only one person has access to offering, cash, checks and check log.
- Person with access doesn’t take vacations and guards against someone else doing their job.
- Person with access is living beyond their means.
- Person with access has personal financial issues.
- It is difficult to get financial summary from responsible person.
- There is inadequate supervision of person(s) handling cash.
6. Act on Suspicion
If you have a gut feeling, take the time to investigate and act on your instincts.
7. Supervision/Management
Whether that oversight is of employees or volunteers, it is critical to have good supervision of those who deal with church funds. Make your presence known, ask questions and insist on timely financial reporting. Management and supervision is a crucial aspect of financial controls.
8. Policy and Procedures
The first step in any effort of control is to write policies and procedures. Spend some time thinking through how your organization would like to control the handling of, and access to, church funds. The more eyes on the books, the more likely it will be for someone to notice irregularities.
9. Training
Employees and volunteers who help with counting the offering, or assisting in the church office, should be trained at least annually on the policies and procedures that relate to church funds.
10. Audits
Church audits are expensive, there is no question, but it is critical that the church takes the steps to conduct thorough church audits on a regular basis.
First thing we want to discuss is that the Incident Command System is "a systematic tool used for the command, control, and coordination of emergency response" and it is "a set of personnel, policies, procedures, facilities, and equipment, integrated into a common organizational structure designed to improve emergency response operations of all types and complexities.
ICS gets very technical and very in-depth……..I just want to talk about the basics today. What you will encounter with incidents at your facilities, but also what you should be thinking about as far as structure goes with your own team. In simple terms ICS means someone is in charge……and that person may change depending on when something happens and what is happening.
Who is responding as part of your team or who from our community emergency response system is responding? If you have a medical emergency during your service…….hopefully a doctor or nurse is in attendance…..you may also have a police officer in attendance and then you as part of the security team. So now in that same medical emergency situation during your service, we continue the analysis……who is in charge or who is calling the shots and giving direction? It is going to be the doctor or medical professional.
Now during this incident, someone calls 911 for medical help or an ambulance……and in 4 or 5 minutes an EMS response team, and ambulance and a police officer all arrive to your medical emergency…..who is going to be in charge ? If you guessed the medical or EMS response team you are right. It is a medical situation and they have the most experience and knowledge so they take command of the scene.
Now let’s say you have a stabbing or shooting within your ministry service. In the process you call 911 and you get a flood of police and medical people arriving. Now who is in charge? The first priority is going to be to get people medically evaluated and then transported to medical facilities. So who is technically in charge to start with? It would be the highest ranking member of the Medics or EMS personnel on scene…..but as that process gets going or most people are in the process of being transported to the hospital, your facility begins to transfer to the command of the police as this is now the scene of a crime and investigation. If you stand back and watch this transfer in action, it may be tough to see. In fact if the medical people on scene have plenty of personnel, you may actually see police, putting up yellow police tape and beginning to block things off and calling in detectives as the medical personnel are working on the patience……initial priority …..get medical help, get people transported to medical help……next start looking at the crime scene.
So back to some of the official discussion and overview:
ICS is based upon a changeable, scalable response organization providing a common hierarchy within which people can work together effectively. These people may be drawn from multiple agencies that do not routinely work together, and ICS is designed to give standard response and operation procedures to reduce the problems and potential for miscommunication on such incidents. ICS has been summarized as a "first-on-scene" structure, where the first responder of a scene has charge of the scene until the incident has been declared resolved, a more qualified responder arrives on scene and receives command, or the Incident Commander appoints another individual Incident Commander.
Key concepts
Unity of command
Common terminology
Management by objective
Flexible and modular organization
Span of control
Coordination
Incident action plans
The consolidated IAP is a very important component of the ICS that reduces freelancing and ensures a coordinated response. At the simplest level, all Incident Action Plans must have four elements:
- What do we want to do?
- Who is responsible for doing it?
- How do we communicate with each other?
- What is the procedure if someone is injured?
Comprehensive resource management
Comprehensive resource management is a key management principle that implies that all assets and personnel during an event need to be tracked and accounted for. It can also include processes for reimbursement for resources, as appropriate. Resource management includes processes for:
- Categorizing resources.
- Ordering resources.
- Dispatching resources.
- Tracking resources.
- Recovering resources.
Integrated communications
Composition
Incident commander
Command staff
General staff
A. What is your role?
1.Appear calm, centered and self-assured even though you don’t feel it. Relax facial muscles and look confident. Your anxiety can make the person feel anxious and unsafe and that can escalate aggression.
2.Use a modulated, low monotonous tone of voice (our normal tendency is to have a high pitched, tight voice when scared).
3.If you have time, remove necktie, scarf, hanging jewelry, (not in front of him/her)
4.Do not be defensive-even if the comments or insults are directed at you, they are not about you. Do not defend yourself or anyone else from insults, curses or misconceptions about their roles.
5.Be aware of any resources available for back up. Know that you have the choice to leave, tell the person to leave or call the police should de-escalation not be effective
6.Be very respectful even when firmly setting limits or calling for help. The agitated individual is very sensitive to feeling shamed and disrespected. We want him/her to know that it is not necessary to show us that they must be respected. We automatically treat them with dignity and respect.
B: THE PHYSICAL STANCE
1.Never turn your back for any reason
2.Always be at the same eye level. Encourage the person to be seated, but if he/she needs to stand, you stand up also.
3.Allow extra physical space between you – about four times your usual distance. Anger and agitation fill the extra space between you and your person.
4.Do not stand full front to person. Stand at an angle so you can sidestep away if needed.
5.Do not maintain constant eye contact. Allow the person to break his/her gaze and look away.
6.Do not point or shake your finger.
7.DO NOT smile. This could look like mockery or anxiety
8.Do not touch – even if some touching is generally culturally appropriate and usual in your setting. Cognitive dysfunction in agitated people allow for easy misinterpretation of physical contact as hostile or threatening.
9.Keep hands out of your pockets, up and available to protect yourself. It also demonstrates non-verbal ally, that you do not have a concealed weapon
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Do not argue or try to convince, give choices i.e. empower.
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Don’t be defensive or judgmental.
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Don’t be parental, join the resistance: You have a right to feel angry.
C: THE DE-ESCALATION DISCUSSION
1.Remember that there is no content except trying to calmly bring the level of arousal down to baseline.
2.Do not get loud or try to yell over a screaming person. Wait until he/she takes a breath; then talk. Speak calmly at an average volume.
3.Respond selectively; answer all informational questions no matter how rudely asked, (e.g. "Why do I have to sit with these sinful people?” (e.g. "Why are all church people ___ ?) Answer Informational questions - Ignore Do NOT answer Abusive questions. Explain limits and rules in an authoritative, firm, but always respectful tone. Give choices where possible in which both alternatives are safe ones (e.g. Would you like to continue our discussion calmly or would you prefer to stop now and come back tomorrow and see someone when things can be more relaxed?)
4.Empathize with feelings but not with the behavior (e.g. "I understand that you have every right to feel angry, but it is not okay for you to threaten me or my people.)
5.Do not solicit how a person is feeling or interpret feelings in an analytic way.
6.Do not argue or try to convince.
7.Wherever possible, tap into the person’s cognitive mode: DO NOT ask "Tell me how you feel. But: Help me to understand what your are saying to me” People are not attacking you while they are sharing with you what they want you to know.
8.Suggest alternative behaviors where appropriate e.g. "Would you like to have a cup of coffee (tepid and in a paper cup) or some water?
9.Give the consequences of inappropriate behavior without threats or anger.
- Trust your instincts. If you assess or feel that de-escalation is not working, STOP! You will know within 2 or 3 minutes if it’s beginning to work. Tell the person to leave, escort him/her to the door, call for help or leave yourself and call the police.
There is nothing magical about talking someone down. You are transferring your sense of calms and genuine interest in what the person wants to tell you, and of respectful, clear limit setting in the hope that the person actually wishes to respond positively to your respectful attention. Do not be a hero and do not try de-escalation when a person has a gun or is extremely violent. In that case, simply comply and simply try to leave the area and call for help or call for police.
So I always want to start out these type of discussions reminding us about balance. We have to have balance between a safe and secure environment for our people, families and ministry staff and a friendly and welcoming environment. So you may have a ministry leader that talks about being “low key” on security or a leader who talks about scaring off people with too much of a security presence. I want to say that even though I am very big on the idea of needing some security for our ministries, I am a definite supporter of balance. When I train church security personnel in seminars I always mention that fact that I think for most churches, security should be a plain clothes team that is not detected, trained as much as they can, with a solid plan of operation. Having a solid operation is key in my mind. What I mean by that is that I challenge myself and my team often enough that when something happens I handle it or we handle it. If someone stands up and interrupts the ministry service, you or your team get up from your positions, walk forward, ask the person in a solid voice and speech rate to go with you outside, and you then escort them out. It happens and it happens right now and the process flows just like you practiced in your mind or in your team meeting. And while you are going through this process to restore order, you do it with the least amount of distraction as possible, remembering that there are families and children watching you. That is a solid operation.
As an usher or greeter you are very valuable to the security plan in a ministry. You tend to know what is going on. You especially know who generally attends church and how do most people conduct themselves. So you can spot a suspicious person or a suspicious circumstance very quickly, in fact quicker than most everyone else including ministry leaders.
The next issue is what is your plan or what would the rest of the ministry team like you to do if you do spot something suspicious or someone who is acting suspicious? So within the ministry are you just eyes and ears, so are you going to notify someone or are you now going to begin to deal with this issue? If it is a suspicious person, are you going to intentionally meet and greet them and begin to ask them questions? I would certainly recommend that if you are asked to handle something like a suspicious person, that we do go up and speak to them like anyone else. We are friendly, maybe we offer them coffee or water, if that is what we do for others, then ask them if this is their first time….and so on with the questions. Get to know them a bit and determine if your thinking they are suspicious is correct by how they respond to your normal questions, or if they are just fine. If they are suspicious, and you continue to be concerned about them entering the service, then how are you going to deal with that. Ask them to sit to the side of the lobby and you are going to get someone to speak with them? Or what else might you do or your ministry leaders want you to do?
That idea of what are you going to do as an usher or greeter if you see someone suspicious is an important question to answer ahead of time. If you are the leader of the usher team or greeter team, it is important that you give direction when it comes to security direction. What do you want them to do in many different circumstances. As a member or a leader of the team, challenge them with recent articles or stories about what has happened in churches and how the ushers reacted. For instance if I was in charge of the ushers or greeters or I was filling one of those rolls, I would want to challenge us with discussion of a recent event. On the church security facebook page on May 20, 2014 we listed a news story about a man who robbed the church offering from a couple of ushers as they walked the money bags to the office. They eventually chased the guy down and got the money back….. This would be a great discussion to have with the ushers and or greeters. First, how might we handle the offering differently ? Do we have 2 or 3 ushers walk the money to the office? Then we challenge everyone on the team and as the leader we give them direction on how we want the money handled and then what we want them to do if someone tries to rob them. Certainly giving them your thoughts on if the person has a gun or is unarmed, what do you want them to do. And I hope your discussion talks about letting the money go in either case, but especially in the case of someone having a weapon. This thinking ahead of time or talking to your team is invaluable should this situation actually happen.
So realistically the primary role of an usher or greeter should be to observe, make an assessment of the situation you see and then get assistance or take action. To do this we need to be aware, alert and ready to get someone to handle this or help us deal with the situation.
Next there is another area that Ushers and Greeters can help with and that is what we might call intel or information. You might be more in touch with the members or congregation than other in the ministry. So part of that intel or information gathering might be knowing or hearing about family conflict, spouses that are having turmoil outside of church. You might also know about complaints former members or current members have about the church or people within the church. You may also know about people who have been kicked out of the church. You might also be aware of recent divorces or separations or child custody battles between spouse and/or church members. You might also become aware of people having stalkers, or people having health issues that may make them violent at times.
When you become aware of this information you might share this with the rest of your team, or if you see these people that are going through difficulties arriving to the church or ministry location you might alert the rest of the team. If your ministry has a security team, alert them of the issue with this person or persons and their arrival.
It would not hurt also to speak as a team of how you might operate as a team. Who or when might it be a good time to walk through the parking lots. If a problem happens in church who will warn people, who will call 911 and who will lock doors to keep the bad person out or escort people to safety? All of these thing are topics I believe we should be discussing on a monthly basis at a minimum.
The last thing I want to talk about is where do we position people. If you have 3 or 4 ushers or greeters, obviously we are going to have them near the ministry entrance. But then what do we do with them. Do a few of them go to sit with their familes? Then do we ask a couple of them to be observers and greet late people? If we do have them stay, what are good locations for them to be at. Where they can see people entering the church and maybe see what is going on inside the church or outside in the parking lot. What are your anticipated issues that day or that month?
Remember this security concept is really based on preplanning, thinking about things ahead of time and defining roles. It is most important if you are a leader of the ushers or greeters that you tell them What you would like them to do in the event of these different emergencies or issues and then discuss them every so often to refresh in everyones minds what we should do. Remember when something happens as in a crisis or emergency, most of the time our brains are going to freeze for a moment and then begin to react. So it is important to discuss options and preplan so that when our brain comes out of the shock or freeze, we can begin to react quickly and do what we were trained to do or talked about doing.
The first thing that I think is necessary to mention is that a sexual predator or pedophile does not have a certain look….they don’t stand out in looks in fact they generally look like the rest of us a fit in pretty well. In fact they are typically a kind and helpful person. They are encouraging and they are there when you need them.
Now I am not an expert in the detection, conduct, treatment or recidivism rates of Sexual predators, but I do know the things I am aware of because of my law enforcement experiences and knowledge and studies.
So lets talk about what to look for. Studies and testimony from pedophiles show that they generally begin with an act of grooming a child. They spend time, energy and maybe even money to get children and their parents often times to feel comfortable with the situation between them and the child. After trust is established then the predator will become a little more risky or intrusive….pushing the limits a bit if you will, so that they can test boundaries.
This stuff you might see could be hugging the child, kissing, tickling, wrestling and maybe even be slightly improper while the child is dressing, changing clothes or using the restroom….. The restroom within your ministry should be a big concern when it comes to the safety of the children by the way.
Some of the touching that goes on may be claimed to be an accident, again as part of that testing to see how the child reacts and any parents or other teachers and leaders present react. Also keep in mind all of this prep work and becoming a trustworthy friend to the child and the adults around the child helps prevent people from reporting if the pedophile gets caught. This trust system works for them, that one reason why they get away with the predator behavior for so long.
So lets look at some clues or signs to look for that a pedophile might be grooming or working on your child:
The person tells the child that he or she is a “special” friend
They give the child special gifts
They may talk to a child about adult topics including sex or marriage problems.
They may give a child adult items like cigarettes or alcohol.
They may try to arrange a child to spend the night or be close to them, maybe in the same cabin or tent, if they go to a camp together.
A little more detail is added to this process for us by retired FBI agent Kenneth Landing. He has published five steps to help us identify the process most sexual predators use to groom children to be their victims.
First, he tells us that pedophiles have different victims that they are searching for, but most of the time they find their victim has some vulnerability.
Next, Agent Landing tells us that a pedophile will then collect as much info on the child victim they are targeting as they possibly can. Most of the time they do this through conversations with the child, parents or guardians.
Third, the pedophile then looks to become part of the child’s life by fulfilling a need. If the child is poor for an example the predator will provide him/her with expensive toys. If the child is lonely the pedophile becomes a friend.
Next Agent Landing tells us that a pedophile will work to lower the Child’s inhibitions concerning sexual matters. He may use games or activities that involve getting undressed, making sexual comments or show the child pornography.
In stage 5, Agent Landing say the pedophile begins to sexually abuse the child.
So how should we be preparing to use our concealed weapons……one of the first things I tend to note with people is often times we don’t want to talk about how much we practice with our firearms. When is the last time you have practiced with your firearm? Or how about the folks that you consider to be part of your security team……or the ones you are thinking about making part of your team…..we all carry these firearms and when are we actually practicing with them? What scares me is when I hear some pastors say that they know people carry concealed weapons in the congregation and those people will take care of anyone who comes into the church shooting.
Now here is what I want us all to consider, whether you are the one carrying a concealed weapon, or you are the one asking people to carry a concealed weapon or you are the ministry leader who says my congregation has concealed weapons and will take care of it if something goes wrong…….think about this for a minute with me…..when something goes wrong how easy is it to use that weapon? How easy is it….. when someone is firing their weapon at me or other in church to duck to find cover, reposition myself to get my gun out of the holster or concealed carry location, draw it and fire it……as my stress and nerves are taking control?
Think about that……if you have to use your weapon to defend yourself, it is not like being at the gun range…..no one is going to say OK put on your eye protection and your hearing protection and now are you ready? OK begin firing………no this is shock and overwhelming rush of emotions….coupled with indecision and disbelief……
Let me apply some statistics to this for you to prove my point……many years ago The Police Policy Studies Council looked at 29 police shootings at one agency (and I will leave them anonymous because this is not about the agency….it is about the use of firearms in the heat of battle). These 29 police involved shootings occurred over a 4 year period….by the way this study was done to propose the officers needed more training …….. In this study it was determined that the police fire a total of 186 shots total in these 29 officer involved shootings. Their hit ratio? Of the total rounds fired they hit the intended person 112 times…….so you do the math that means they missed 40 percent of the time…..so the point I want to make with this is that police officers train often with their weapons, many agencies require officers to shoot a 90 or 100 percent hit measurement in practice 3 or 4 times a year… some of the agencies also have practice time dealing with holster systems and then shoot don’t shoot decision making drills or discussions. That means these officers might be thinking about weapons use and or practicing as much as 6 or 8 times a year at a minimum for up to 40 hours total time per year…..and what is there accuracy rate?
So now you are carrying your concealed weapon around with you and your have not practiced in 3 years…..you have not shot your weapon, you have not practiced drawing your weapon and you have not practiced or even thought about doing those two things while you are trying to fall to the ground or take cover, practicing while on the move? What is your accuracy rate going to be? I am guessing if the police training 40 hours per year 6 to 8 time during the year and have a miss rate of 40 percent…what might our miss rate be……I am afraid we might not even be able to get our weapons out of the concealed holster on our belts or in our purses….and if we do get the weapon out during all the chaos ….we might have a 100 percent miss rate when we do fire……
So the next question is where are your bullets going when they miss there intended target? Think about that for a minute….again we are not on the gun range where they go down range and into a pile of dirt or sand trap when we miss……those are what we call in law enforcement……million dollar rounds when we are firing our guns and missing our target in the middle of a crowd……those misses might hit innocent people and it is very costly…..money cost…..but also emotional costs and I do not want that for you or for your ministry.
So practice is important…..we need to practice drawing our firearm…..which we can do once it is safely unloaded in our bedroom, shop or other private and safe location. Practice, Practice, Practice……draw…successfully practicing drawing that weapon 5000 times might improve your ability to draw it under the pressure of an actual shooting incident. It becomes easier and just natural when you practice drawing your weapon that many times……then it is just second nature for you.
When we practice drawing, we might want to simulate how we might be drawing it …….if we are practicing for church are you seated? Probably a good chance…or are you standing? So simulating what we think the situation would be is a great way to practice…..real world simulation meaning we trying to think of the dynamics of what will happen if a violent shooting incident happens…..I am going to move for cover, I am going to draw my firearm and then I might use it. Practicing the mechanics of drawing, moving and firing……is what our goal should be…..and practice in a safe manner.
Churches are very visible within our cultures and within our communities, and at certain times of the week a lot of our community members are all gathered in one location for our ministries. This adds to the idea that at times churches are easy targets which if attacked could affect a large part of our community. Most ministries also have an open door policy, you allow all people to attend your services and in fact are seeking out people often times who are already in crisis.
Some other things that add to the seriousness are that we live in a violent world, there are violent people out there that will harm you and today there seems to be less and less fear of consequences. As I eluded to earlier people like the notoriety they get from creating danger, damage and hurting people, in fact their goal often times is to hurt large numbers of people.
A lot of negative community emotions can be linked to these incidents the more people they affect. So I would propose even further that the better prepared you are the quicker the incident may be stopped, therefore causing less damage and/or death and destruction.
So what could possibly happen in our ministries or what could cause disruptions to our services that we need to be thinking about and preparing for, hear is just a list of a few items that I think are possibilities in many of our communities and our churches not just people issues but any event that could spell disaster for our ministries:
Intruders, Bomb Threats, Hostage Situations, Sniper Attacks, Assault, Domestic Violence, Sexual Attacks, Weapons possession, Child Abuse, Drug Abuse, Drug Trafficking, Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Floods, Fires, Kidnapping, Utilities Failing, Gang Violence, Accidents which cause injury or death, Illnesses spreading within our congregation, Hurricanes, Accidents in Church Vehicles including vans or buses. Incidents at Camps or Campouts.
Now when we are talking about the people created events, You might be asking yourself as you explore this idea of preparing mentally “why might someone want to harm you or your people or your ministry these days. The typical reasons from my experience and what I see in different criminal reports is
- To get ahead somehow….whether it is to get something like satisfaction, money or revenge.
- Some people just want to hurt, upset or cause problems for people.
- Sometimes they have different believes that you do and want to press those beliefs on you.
- Some people want notoriety for their actions…..they do not get satisfaction from other means and so they look to get some fame…..maybe as they prepare to leave this life by suicidal means.
So what can we do to prepare? Maybe we can only begin to add to our mental participation in this preparing for Violence or Emergencies in our Ministry. So what do we start with to get prepared or more prepared that when are today?
I believe we just need to begin to look at how would we respond to a crisis in our ministry?
First that is developing a simple plan for people related violence and other emergencies.
Next, I think about trying to put together a team…..that maybe you and another person or a couple of police officers or military people that attend your ministry regularly. What is the best team you can put together.
Next, we need to begin to identify likely incidents or likely threats. In Episode #3 we talked about the top 10 likely incidents which might occur within your ministry. So for this segment you can listen to that episode and think about the likely incidents that might cause you issues.
Next determine how you would like the response to be. As a ministry or security leader you will decide and relay how you want the response to go with each incident and I further reinforce this and say that it is important for you to share with your people whoever they are, how strong or low key you would like the response to each type of incident you perceive might occur.
Next I would recommend thinking about the impact these incidents might have on the ministry if they were to occur. Also the impact on the community. What things can you do to reassure the community or your congregation once something has occurred? This might be a community outreach opportunity as a positive note, if there is one in these situations.
Next what will we do to recover after a major incident. If it is a disaster or emergency what will we do for the short term with our ministry and then long term plans. Secondary meeting facilities might be a preplanning idea for recovery. Maybe identifying counseling resources within our ministry family to support those affected by violence.
Lastly we might consider how we cover the liability for these incidents…….insurance and other items that might come to mind…..such as preplanning, training and other things that help us to prepare in case there is liability that comes back on us.
One of the first areas when we discuss crime prevention would be “break ins” to your church. Typically we do not alarm our buildings or churches, we have a lot of people in and out, so security of doors and windows is not very good. And you have electronics and other valuables which are great targets for thieves. So here is one area to look at for increasing our safety. Looking at facilities people who tend to be the last person out, task them with doing a perimeter check, checking doors and windows. Do you have janitorial people that work late, can you educate them a bit more in security principals and ask them to “patrol” the perimeter of the building once in a while.
Next…..money money money….and maybe this segment should be appropriately titled “don’t show me the money”. Money handling should be a big crime prevention focus we have in our churches. There is money that is missing, robbed or stolen much too often from our Ministries.
Do your ministry members take money home to count it and then deliver to the bank on Monday, or do you have multiple people that count the money on site at the church? Does that money sit in the office until Monday or Tuesday? Having one individual handle money or not looking at security risks for getting the money to the bank can spell disaster.
Next, lets talk about the parking lot during your services…….this can be a great place for people to make some quick work of stealing property. Stealing from parked vehicles in the parking lot should be a concern for all of us. It ruins the day of our members and I do believe it is preventable most of the time. Do you have a couple of ushers that you send out to the parking lot during services?
The last thing I want to talk about today is cash…..yes one more time more specifically one more area of problems. Another security risk can be keeping cash in the church office to provide to those strangers or transient people in need. Churches traditionally keep money on hand to give to people who stop by the office for assistance. If people get to know this and where you keep the money it could certainly pose a risk to those working with the money or working in the office. It could also simply pose a problem for someone to return after receiving some cash assistance to break in and get more.
I would recommend getting some basic gift certificates for lodging, meals or gas to keep on hand. Not as tempting as cash, as they have the appearance of being trackable. You can easily handout the certificate to be used for their purpose at local businesses. This also might help with misuse of the funds you are giving out if you are concerned about that, ie someone actually purchasing alcohol or cigarettes with “gas” money that you have given them.
Schizophrenia - General Indicators •Breakdown of personality •Withdrawal from reality •Distortion of thought (absurd, illogical, bizarre) •Hallucinations; Sight, Smell, Hearing •Auditory problems; “God (Voices in my head) told me….” •Delusions; False beliefs with no reality, grandeur •Delusions and behavior is Anxiety and Suspiciousness •Excessively religious •Frequent hostile or aggressive behavior Bipolar Disorder (Depressive) Indicators •Lasting sad, anxious or empty mood •Feeling hopelessness and/or guiltand fatigued •Loss of interest in their normal activities •Chronic pain – Persistent body problems/symptoms •Thoughts of death, suicide or suicide attempts •Difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions •Change in appetite – Unintended weight loss •Sleep too much or not at all •Talking fast, irritable and increased increase in energy •Excessive alcohol or drug abuse •Denies that anything is wrong Do's or Should Do's •Mentally ILL people are PEOPLE with feelings & rights •Always assess for the degree of danger when contacting •Maintain adequate space for your safety/level of training •BE CALM •Be helpful to them (ask about their basic needs) •When time…..give firm and clear directions •Respond to general feelings not content of their discussion •Respond to hallucinations & delusions by discussing them as their FEELINGS rather than what they are saying. Dont's or Should Not's
•Don’t join into their behavior related to their crisis •Don’t stare at them – normal eye contact (50%) •Don’t confuse them (follow through -Directions/commands) •Don’t Touch unless you are moving them forcefully •Don’t give them multiple choices •Don’t whisper, joke or laugh •Don’t deceive them – Don’t make promises you cant’ keep •Don’t demand their obedience or power struggle •Don’t call their bluff, act afraid, act laugh inappropriately •Don’t take issues personally with them
April 22, 2014 – On Tuesday, April 22, 2014 a funeral was being held at the Galilee Baptist Church in Trenton, New Jersey. The funeral was for 19 year old Cagney Roberts who had been shot to death on April 9th in a street shooting. Hundreds of people were in attendance at the church for the funeral. Just after noon, As the sermon in the sanctuary was about to begin, gunfire could be heard outside the church. Police reports say that shooters opened fire in front of the church injuring 3 people. During this chaos there was also one person who was trampled as people were fleeing the church.
April 9, 2014 – In Cicero, Illinois a man who served as an authority figure within the roles of Youth Minister, Church Photographer and a Teacher at the church is accused of engaging in sexual conduct with several juvenile boys within the church between the ages of 9 and 17. As the information is coming out it is alleged that this misconduct took place over 6 years and in numerous locations including his own apartment and two youth retreat camps.
February 12, 2014 – An Intoxicated Male at the Seagate Baptist Church in Naples, Florida causes a disorderly drunken disturbance at the church and in the parking lot. The report accuses Thomas Wilson, 52 years of age, a homeless man, of being heavily intoxicated and yelling profanities at church members as people were arriving for an evening church service. He refused to leave so law enforcement was called to the church.
February 2, 2014 – A shooting incident at the Double Springs Community Church in Cookeville, Tennessee left two people dead.
In this episode we are going to discuss different training suggestions for your security personnel. What courses should we offer to make sure they are prepared both for protecting us but also training that covering our liabilities.
So the first topic I believe you should focus on is making sure that all members who you are considering as part of the security team, need to have training on what leadership wants and what the policies of the ministry are, what some of you might also call an orientation. How do you want them to handle medical situations, how do you want them to handle disruptions or crimes within the church ministry.
You would also want to make sure they know your direction on domestic violence issues, disruptive issues, how to handle suspicious people around the service areas, and how you would like your personnel to interact with law enforcement when something more serious happens.
Next I would suggest that we have to discuss in detail “use of force” issues. There needs to be some discussion of what level of force is needed for various situations that might arise.
Then we might as well discuss training for your armed personnel if you have them in your team. They obviously need to know the requirements to be able to carry a firearm, those state or special laws and regulations. Then use of force needs to be an important training topic along with discussions about carrying the firearm and how you want them to conceal and or control the firearm with holsters. Then we need to discuss the big issue for our gun toters and that would be actual training time at the gun range.
Some really good verbal communication skills are a really good component of training for a security staff member. Learning how to talk to people is a skill many of us have not mastered.
Last the basic training should include discussion of how we will handle general emergencies as an individual security person or as a group.
In this episode we are going to discuss different options for armed security for your church.
Those 4 options include; Off-duty or previously employed and trained law enforcement personnel. Your own personnel or Internal Security Staff, Contracted outside security officers, and the concealed carrying members of the congregation.
The first option for discuss is a great option. The people with the best training and most current knowledge for armed security options would be any of the already attending law enforcement officers to your services.
The next option for discussion is having your own security staff or volunteers internally. This option is certainly one that you can track and control more, especially with maintaining a balance between the ministry and the security operation. When you take on this option however keep in mind you take on the regulations, the screening, supervision, training and all of the liability.
The next option for you to consider is hiring an outside security officer or guard. Using an outside professional security guard company provides several benefits. First, you certainly would want to do your homework in looking for a reputable security officer company. After that it takes some of the liability off of you or certainly provides a layer of protection for you, the church leadership and the church.
The last option I want to briefly discuss is relying on those people in your congregation who might be lawfully carrying concealed weapons. I have heard ministry leaders talk about this option and consider it to be a valid option. Not knowing who you have in your congregation, I certainly do not want to immediately write this option off but I do want to make sure and discuss a couple of items. The first is the biggest issue for me. Most people who get concealed weapons permits or are allowed to carry firearms at church by law, certainly like to talk about taking action and stopping violent offenders, but my concern is their actual ability to take this action safely. Most of these folks, use their firearms in the course of getting their carrying permit or at some point they have practiced. However, how long has it been since they have actually fired that gun? I propose to you that many to most people who carry a firearm within the guidelines of the law have not shot the firearm in many many months to many years. That is frightening to me.
Training Topic for this episode
For our training discussion in this episode I just want to share a brief thought with you about tracking the training you do with your staff, security persons, ushers or anyone else. Documenting by filing training paperwork or using a sign up roster during the training session or documenting it in an excel file is something you need to think about soon, if you have not already. You will see at different times I will put briefing training papers or resources out on the website at churchsecurityanswerman.com, for example in the show notes attached to episode 3 of this podcast on churchsecurityanswerman.com I attached a sheet which you can download to discuss with your people. The discussion is about a factual situation that occurred at one church, it was a man playing his guitar, during service and refusing to stop. The training sheet has a discussion question after you read the incident, it is designed to challenge discussion for you and your people.
The Top 10 Safety and Security Issues We should be prepared for in our Ministries.
Medical Emergencies
Trip and fall – heart attack – loss of consciousness
Disorderly Conduct or Service Interruptions
Domestic Related Issues (Custody or Disputes)
Restraining Order Violations (No Contact Orders)
Issues in the Parking Lot or Around Perimeter
(Vandalism, Attack, Abduction, Arson)
Natural Disaster (Earthquake)(Power Outage)
Child Abuse / Child Abduction
Members Attacked (Arriving or Departing)
Violent Intruder / Active Shooter
What I want to discuss today is the idea of being a team…..everyone in your ministry being on the “security team”. If we are going to truly protect your ministry everyone has to be trained and be eyes and ears and part of the plan to protect. The reason for this is, that problems do not often times just appear one time. In fact some of the worst problems like violence or predators, may in fact grow over time as a problem. The issues such as predators of your children my scope out your facility, ministries and personnel, so we all have to be part of that team looking for those things growing or evaluating you to prey on you and your ministry.
So everyone has a part and needs to be involved to one degree or another. Office staff are not trained to respond to service interruptions on Sundays, but they are trained to be aware of things going on during their duty times maybe Monday through Friday. They may notice someone in crisis starting to hang around the church and can alert you to this fact. This makes you aware of Jim Smith being in crisis and now on Sunday when you see Jim you can greet him and begin to ask questions to determine his mindset.
This episode discusses issues that we should preplan for in our children's ministries. Items discussed include establishing a safety perimeter to protect the children, the role of the gatekeeper, custody issues and child predators.
First thing we need is a perimeter or safe zone around our children when they are in the nursery, classroom or gym. A perimeter is the most basic principle of security. How do we establish that perimeter?
Next, for the little ones we need to make sure that we have ONE entrance in to the children’s area. Standing at that one entrance needs to be an adult gatekeeper who is making sure that only adults with children enter the area, or the proper ministry leaders and teachers are in that safe area. We also need to make sure if we want to be most efficient, that the gatekeeper is NOT the adult operating the check in and out system for the children either (this will obviously depending on the size of you ministry)
Next we have to make sure we know that people inside of that secure perimeter or who are the nursery workers, children’s teachers and leaders? This becomes the next principle we have to look at.
We also have to look at our check in and out system for the smaller children. Which parent dropped them off, who is supposed to pick them up. This is an important issue for us to look at.
Now one of the reasons we have a child check in system is because of abduction by strangers, but the other issue we have to make sure and guard against is the wrong parent picking up a child. By that I mean there are so many custody situations these days because of split homes. So we have to be prepared for a non-custodial parent trying to pick up their child from your ministry/facility without the other parents consent or knowledge. This falls into what I consider to be a very sensitive and dangerous area.