Church Security Training
Unfortunately Leaders can no longer rely on reputation and good feelings to protect their church. Church security teams must prepare for external and internal threats of theft, shootings, fire, weather emergencies, and more.
Your church can remain safe and secure by developing a thorough plan
and investing in security tools and programs.
During the first intro of Church Security training, one of the important topics we will be discussing would be the effectiveness of an Emergency Response Plan or (ERP) which would include developing an Emergency Response Team or (ERT).
In addition, we will be discussing the training curriculum of your ERT emphasizing the importance of attending every training course and the expectations of being a member of the church ERT. That way each participant can decide if being a part of the ERT is right fit for them.
The purpose of an ERP is to create an action plan for emergencies that can happen at any house of worship. As you may know, churches can be vulnerable to everything from break-ins and petty theft, medical emergencies to acts of domestic violence and mass shooters. In recent years, houses of worship have become soft targets for active shooters and mass shooters.
Once your team recognizes its needs of the church then the real work begins. Regular meetings and training sessions need to be implemented to maintain the quality of your church’s security. As new threats develop, your plan will need to be updated regularly. You’ll also want to review every event that does occur to better improve future responses.
Creating church security plans requires thoughtful planning. Working together with leaders and representatives from the congregation to develop a security plan that works for your church, follow these simple steps to create your church response plan.
Below are just a few things you may want to consider while developing your ERP.
Creating and action plan
Getting started
If you have made the decision to establish an Emergency Response Plan, the next step is very simple. We will arrange a date to have your first team presentation. The presentation includes the importance of establishing a team, how to set up your team, who are possible candidates, team responsibilities and what is expected of your team members. The presentation takes about 2 to 2 1⁄2 hours and doesn’t matter if you have 10 or 30 participants. So, it will be important to try and get as many participants as possible to the training course offered with the understanding that consistency is key.
Analyze your threats
Before you can create a security plan, you need to analyze what your security threats are. Some threats will be the same across the country, such as fire or a health emergency. Other threats may be more likely to happen in specific areas, such as shootings, robberies, and natural disasters.
When analyzing threats, consider the history and location of your church. It’s also important to consider the makeup of your congregation. Your security plan might look different if you have a lot of children or elderly people who typically attend church. This is especially important to consider if there are steps leading to your sanctuary; that can make evacuation more difficult for these groups of people.
Create a security team
Once you’ve analyzed your threats, assemble a security team that is equipped to handle those threats. This is often a ministry that members of the church choose to serve on.
Consider people with a background in Financing, logistics, security, law enforcement, or the military.
Determine what Security Equipment you need
This can vary, but security equipment for churches often includes security cameras, access control systems, two-way radios, and alarm systems. Also, consider whether you want yoursecurity system to be professionally monitored and if you will hire someone in-house to monitoryour security equipment. Will your ERT be armed or unarmed? It is just as important for yourstaff that chooses to be unarmed but may use less lethal tools such as pepper spray, tasers orbatons to be well trained just as much as your armed staff members. De-escalation trainingshould be high on your priority list.
Develop security policies
This is where the meat of your plan lies and where you’re going to do the most work. For each possible emergency, decide what policies and procedures people should follow and what rules are you going to put in place. You also need to divide people into categories and determine what each category of people should do in the event of an emergency. Possible categories include the security team, leadership, childcare leaders, and the congregation. Any security plan should be written very simply and should be easy for anybody to understand
and follow. Outlining the plan in simple and thorough terms helps with staff training and makes roles clear. The better your plan is written, the more smoothly things will go in the event of an emergency.
Train the staff
Once the plan is designed, train all necessary personnel. You likely don’t need to practice
security drills with the entire congregation, but you should train those that are integral to security plans, which includes the security team and church leaders.
Revisit the plan regularly
At least twice per year, revisit and reassess the plan. Make sure it is still accurate and reflects bestpractices. Staff should also brush up on training at least every 6 month.