The best way to protect your house of worship from crime is to put a security management system in place. Many religious organizations have the typical combination of alarms, locks, gates and monitoring equipment. However, those aren’t always enough; you need to add proven security practices and procedures to complement your security equipment.
You should conduct a thorough security assessment. Today, it’s fairly common for houses of worship to ask their local police departments to perform a security vulnerability assessment of the organization’s buildings and grounds. Emergency personnel can show you where your property is most vulnerable. It’s also a good idea to take some photos of those areas to be addressed.
Many religious organizations today are assembling in-house security teams. These teams are made up of employees, members or volunteers from the congregation who can help identify potential risks. During a religious ceremony or other organizational functions, ushers will often be the first to notice a potential problem. For that reason, places of worship are including them on in-house security teams. Many churches and houses of worship now equip their ushers with earpieces and two-way walkie-talkies so they can quickly report suspicious activity to the organization’s leaders.
If you can, hire trained, professional security. Congregants, employees and volunteers will immediately feel safer knowing there’s a guard on duty. Having security people walking your grounds will also help deter crime.
Another security trend at religious institutions today is the addition of 24/7 digital surveillance cameras. Having strategically placed cameras both indoors and out can be a powerful deterrent to vandals.
Be sure your place of worship addresses security as you pursue a strategic operations plan. Security at your house of worship needs more attention to ensure there are safe spaces for adults and children to worship, learn and grow.
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