I have been looking around for resources for church security directors.
Perhaps there aren’t a lot of them out there who are also involved in technology, so I am just not finding any to discuss things with. Then I figured, would I be able to be found by someone looking for other church security directors?
That is why I am making this post. A little bit of bait never hurt.
If you are involved with security at your church then reply here and let me know about you. If you don’t want your comment published then just say so and I won’t approve it for publishing.
Bob, I’m not sure what you’re looking for, but as an IT manager, I automatically have a security role. That doesn’t mean I do it well, but I try to step into that darnkess and do something. Worth a dialogue? Your choice.
- Tony
I work in the IT as well so I understand the security needs in that.
Mantras:
“Log out when you leave your computer!”
“Don’t you dare leave the media equipment storage room unlocked!”
“You gave your password to whom?”
I also work with the building security handling lockup and after-hours issues.
I manage the security cameras and the electronic locks.
What would you think about a forum for this stuff over at OSministry? I had not considered it before, but it kind of fits in the goals.
I know exactly of what you speak. I am an assistant director of our church security team and am always looking for new ideas in order to out think the next wedgewood style attack or simple attacker who would pray on our parishoners.
We have a multi-man team who are scheduled on rotation for Sundays and Wednesdays as well as a roving guard on the outside. We have established radio network and protocols. Several members of our team are licensed peace officers so we have arresting authority if the need occur. We also have a dedicated (revolving) member who sits in what we call the “jump seat” down front so that if anything occurs we can exricate the pastoral team.
There are of course other matters on this subject we do that could take a huge post on your “bait” blog, lol. Politics of course does play a part even in church business, sadly.
Thanks for posting.
I did actually start a Church Security Forum to discuss security topics
Bob,
I just submitted a new website for Church Security about a month ago. The site’s name is www.SurveyEssentials.com .
There are several features to the site. However the best is the free risk assessment software for free download. I designed it myself and believe it will help out. There is no charge at all. It is a service I am providing for free to anyone in need.
Please check it out when you get a chance.
I join you in “fighting the good fight of faithâ€.
In Christ!
John Griffey, CPP
Email: support@surveyessentials.com
griffeyjohn@bellsouth.net
I have been security director here for seven years. We have a security team made up of off duty or retired law enforcement officers (I have twenty years of law enforcement myself with a focus in counter terrorism). I also oversee our emergency medical response team. We have eight firefighter/para-medics on the team. All of these security and medical servants have to understand the ministry of serving and shepherding Gods people before they are able to serve. An iteresting note our security dept. processes over 1200 background investigations a year and all are performed by this office. We don’t use any outside companies only governmant agencies saving the Church thousands of dollars.
Having a venue to exchange information like this is vital to serving and protecting Gods people.
In Him
I am the current director at a mid sized church in the Dayton area. In the past I was also in charge of security for one of the largest in this area. I have been doing this for six years and have also assisted about 12 other churches start their teams. When I first started there were few resources available to assist in training. I am former law enforcement and have a number of current officers on the team including former and current SWAT officers.
We have put together a site with training videos, sample policies, discussions, suggested equipment for both medical and security teams as well as up to date links to violent church incidents. For those who are getting started, there is a presentation to church management on getting a security team approved. Hopefully, this will shorten the learning curve for many churches that are getting started. There is also a forum to discuss issues related to our mission. The site is here
www.churchsecuritymember.com
Take a look and let me knoe what you think.
I do a lot of self defense training for churches in our area, as well as college security team training.
I have been working with Jack Justice on the Church Security Alliance membership site called www.churchsecuritymember.com.
Currently there are videos, podcasts, articles, and downloadable forms available to help you in your training efforts.
I am the Guest Service Minister at Parkcrest Christian Church and we want to start a Law Enforcement Ministry here. We have several active duty and retired officers and volunteers that would like to join the ministry. However; we were looking into some of the legalities behind such a ministry and were concered about our volunteers. What if you were volunteering and got into an incident and that person turned around and sued the church or the offduty officer? Do you have any suggestions for this new ministry and have you looked into the legality of the ministry?
Thanks,
Katie
I’m glad to hear about your ministries, but wonder if the purpose is to protect people during services or to have the ability to keep the church open for people during the week (http://blogs.pioneerlocal.com/religion). I’ve had items stolen from my coat pockets during church, but find most church doors liked when I would like to stop in and pray.
Greetings to you, Bob! In January, 2008 you requested a copy of a PDF I was distributing, and I wanted to update you. That PDF is still available for free, by contacting me on my site at www.tinalewisrowe.com. It is a 24 page document called, Church Security Concerns — The Greeter and Usher Role.
It is not about whole-church security, but does point out that greeters and ushers–often younger people or senior citizens, in many churches–are usually the first people to notice something is wrong with a situation or person. The material emphasizes the key activities of observing and getting help, and also emphasizes how important it is to be a positive representative of the pastoral staff and the church.
I’ve had the fun of sending that little PDF all over the world! As of today, I’ve given out about 1,500 copies of it.
As a side note: As you likely know, one of my training topics relates to courthouse security. I was speaking about that at a conference not long ago, and mentioned the church security material to show how planning is important in any setting. I had far more requests for the church security file than for court security material!
Please be sure to share my contact information with anyone who would like this material for their security planning.
Thanks! Tina Lewis Rowe