It’s hard to avoid reports of crime in the news these days. It seems no one is immune to violence, faith-based organizations included. Creating a security team at your place of worship, however, can go a long way toward ensuring the safety of your employees, members and guests.

Here are tips for creating your security team, putting a plan of action in place and setting standards for its operations.

• Place staff members, volunteers and congregants on your security team.
• Identify potential crisis events.
• Establish a written security and violent response plan for your organization.
• Train greeters and ushers, who are your first line of defense to detect potential threats involving suspicious people, packages and vehicles.
• Establish procedures for patrolling exterior and interior areas before, during and after services, as well as during regular business hours.
• Conduct a security sweep of the entire building before locking all doors and windows for the day.
• Ask members to help keep an eye on the property during off hours and report unusual activities to law enforcement.
• Conduct periodic safety surveys of all buildings and grounds.
• Keep written records of conditions and corrective actions noted during periodic safety surveys of all buildings and grounds.
• Call police if a suspicious person is on your property and let the police investigate the situation.
• Establish your organization’s position regarding on-site armed protection.

Access additional information, resources, tips and more for houses of worship.