I totally appreciate your advice. I have actually completed all but one of your suggestions
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In Kentucky we are required to pass a KY State Police exam with firearm live fire exercises. In the millde of starting this up, KY then passes a law stating no Carry Conceal license is required. That being said, if a person chooses to carry but not get certified they must carry a minimum of a $500,000 umbrella policy. KY has always been an open carry state.
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All great aadvice, thank you
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Yes and thank you.Homeland Security has also been very helpful to me.
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Everyone is doing a great job here and I have learned much, We must learn more and stay
in the Light. Thank you everyone.
The Promise of God are the Greatest and I see many here that are doing and working
hard to protect your church, families, and calling.
Ask ourselves, What would God Do ? (Your Questions ) Be prepared for God to answer
through HIS HOLY WORD, Bible. You are important to HIM and one of the worst things
are happening. The ENEMY does not like it and has once again LIED and is attempt to kill,
steal, and destroy.
Thank you for all you do and be your Best. Jesus Loves Everyone of you.
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I havenāt read all replies yet, but I wanted to give you some ideas. I have worked on a church security team for the past six years and have gained a lot of valuable experience.
First, and very importantly, your security plan should be layered. You need members outside of the church to stop anyone that looks threatening. Itās better to fight outside of the church. These need to be your bravest people. They are going to be the front line.
Second, you need video surveillance. You need, depending on the size of your church, at least one person watching the cameras.
Third, you need people walking the halls and sticking their heads in classrooms and bathrooms. We use former/current military to take on this job. We have zones that we are responsible to protect. We do NOT leave our zones. And we have roving watches. A couple people walk around and check on the zones.
Fourth, you need strategically placed people in the sanctuary. We use LEO for this. Our church of 7,000 members has 4 LEO. One has the sole job of protecting the pastor.
Thatās your layered security. More important that that, though, is training. Every year, every member has to qualify with their carry weapon. We also do scenario training with sim rounds with our local swat team. Iāve taken more sim rounds than I care to admit. We learn how to clear rooms, de-escalate, use of force judgement, etc.
We also have a medical team that works in conjunction with our security team. But every security member receives tactical combat trauma training and a med kit. The training we do yearly includes combat trauma while under stress - getting shot at.
These are the some of the things we do. We also receive martial arts training that focuses on disarming weapons and whatnot, and many other things. Training is essential! Documented training is even better. If things go sideways during a service and a bystander (God forbid) gets hit, you want to be able to show that it was not for a lack of training.
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I just read through the other replies. Great stuff. Assuming youāre a small church and you donāt have the resources to do all that Iāve suggested the number one thing Iād recommend is funnel everyone through one door and have one safety team member at that door. Preferably outside. Thatās if you have absolutely nothing else.
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GREAT summary. I just started at a place that has the same approachābetter security than I would have expected.
One questionāhow do you manage the actual service? We have guys standing in the back watching the congregation, butā¦ theyāre in the back, incapable of providing a barrier to the pulpit/altar/stage area. We have the space saved up front for a team member, but theyāre facing the wrong way ( they donāt face the crowd). Without looking like the Secret Service, what do you do to protect the pastor during the service?
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One of our four LEO is at the back of the congregation watching the crowd. Then we have two other saved spaces for LEO near the front, flanking the stage. And we have our pastor personal guard directly in front of the pastor. We also have a secure location to take pastor if things go sideways.
The truth is, we simply donāt have the manpower to cover every contingency. We have an upper level thatās completely void of a team member. Our main goal, and where we focus most of our members, is outside of the church. The guys and girls in the parking lot are where it all begins, and hopefully ends. An active killer will have to make it through our parking lot, then our military members, and our surveillance before ever making it to the sanctuary. Thatās the goal. Stop them before they make it that far.
Another thing I failed to mention, and itās an important one - we have an LEO on duty in the lobby. He or she also parks their police car right up front where itās very visible. Thatās a great deterrent.
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Aaron, weāve struggled with the same thing. Our sanctuary seats about 350, and the chairs are in an āarc,ā with two aisles toward the pulpit.
We generally try to have one person in back, and another in front, at the right or left edge of the āarc.ā In this position, they can look to their 2 oāclock or 10 oāclock (depending on which side) and see 90% of the sanctuary, while still sitting up front with a reasonable chance of protecting the Pastor.
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Bradley, I love the LEO in the lobby. The vast majority of shooters are cowards.
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Yes, they are! Our vision was to make a hard target out of a soft target. So far, this has worked well. We still have some random craziness that happens. Weāve had people try to snatch kids, men going in the womenās bathrooms, etc. All in all, weāve made the church as impenetrable as possible.
One other thing to consider if youāre operating in a big church, such as the one I attend, is to have designated personnel for special guests. That is always my job. Having talent visit your church is a great way to bring in people who usually wouldnāt come into a church. But itās also a great way to bring in crazy people with nefarious ideations.
I enjoy reading about people going to church and all the responsibilities. My pastors, military people, and
police teams for security, that work very hard and the plaining to secure our church and families. I truly
love them dearly. Just let you know that USCCA has some very good training that is a great help and they are always looking to help. They did not put me up to this. just like eating ice cream and apple pie, it is
hard to stop. Please continue have a great day.
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I lead safety committee at our Methodist church. Training during COVID has been hard to arrange. Iām excited to have scheduled this Thursday an āin personā firearms safety course! Our team is also tasked with COVID response and protocols.
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Iām hoping that this seminar will still be offered in Ft. Worth at the Expo.
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Hi everyone, Iām Maxx with USCCA Group Sales and Iād love to answer any group questions you have! Currently, we work with over 350 House of Worship Security/Safety teams. Please ask any questions you may have here (donāt forget to tag me in the question @Maxx ) or send me a PM! Iād love to help your team save on membership costs and continue to train and educate.
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One thing I think about is church members carrying who are not on the security team. I go to a large church of over 5K members. In a church that large, itās impossible to know all the members.
Should there be a incident of an active shooter and you have armed members not on the security team, you may be mistaken as the active shooter should you draw your firearm.
I carry to church, but lock my firearm in a lock box in my car since I know my church has security. Thereās been a couple of times I forgot to disarm and resolve to myself not to draw my weapon should an incident arise.
One of my brothers Iāve known in the church for almost 25 years carrieās in church and heās not on the security team.
I encouraged him to be very cautious about an active shooter situation since heās not church security.
Do you get my meaning? Whatās your thoughts on it?
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@Thomas141 this is a great observation and questionā¦
Unfortunately my church does not view this type of security and awareness a priority. So I just keep my own eyes peeled
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After 4 years of church security, please just hold the fort and call the Calvary, We all serve and live for our living
Savior and HE is always will be bigger than the bad people of this world. Continue to prayer and worship the way you
you learned and were taught and stand firm and call SWAT and the Police; trainining 101. Please !!! Live and always in Safety, thank you. You are priceless !!!
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