Keeping Your House Secure

Industry Professional

Keeping Your House Secure

The community of people are the focus

Conversations about what can be done to keep violent weapons and dangerous materials from falling into the wrong hands continue to dominate the political discussion, leaving communities wondering about what they can do to prevent the next school or church attack. Houses of worship find themselves in a particularly vulnerable position, opening doors to hundreds of people, while not necessarily having the resources to adequately protect themselves from violence, or even a natural disaster.

Worship sites vary in size and type, from individual homes to large venues and entire buildings. So where do you start in approaching a thoughtful security plan and effectively communicating it to your faith community? Here are some important suggestions for making your local worship place safer for everyone.

Your people are your focus. Ensuring the physical safety of a congregation is a responsibility few church leaders considered in a serious way, prior to recent tragedies. However, this is now very much a part of any organization’s responsibility. Having wellthought- out plans in place and making sure that leadership, volunteers and the congregation know what to do in the event of an emergency is critical.

Build relationships. Houses of worship, regardless of their size or type, can benefit from utilizing publicly available information and relationships in the community. One of the most significant relationships any entity can have is with their local law enforcement agency, such as the precinct, or a government public safety office.

Meeting with your local police officers and asking questions about preparing for or handling a potentially dangerous situation will go far in creating a long-term preparedness plan in case of an emergency. In addition, meeting with your local fire department officers can help you take steps to protect yourself and others while help is on the way, after a crisis event occurs.

Create a plan. Those responsible for your facility and the care of your members and visitors should be familiar with what to do in case of an emergency. Having a documented security plan, which identifies likely threats/ risks and denotes appropriate responses, is a vital tool to maximize preparedness.

Your security plan should include phone numbers for staff and police and fire departments, a designated place where the congregation will meet in the event of a fire or earthquake, and even a security checklist for church events. Knowing that leadership has taken the time to think about security and has a safety plan in place will reassure people that public safety is not something your house of worship takes lightly.

A security plan can be basic or very complex depending on the environment. In either case, here are some initial questions to talk about with your colleagues and neighbors, as well as suggested areas for plan development.

  • Where are the most logical and most accessible emergency exits?
  • Where do I go in the event we need to evacuate our space?
  • Where is the closest fire alarm and extinguisher?
  • How do you respond to a fire versus an earthquake or a flood?
  • How should I respond in the event someone comes into our service with a weapon?
  • How do I notify our congregation and/ or law enforcement if I see a crime or a person I am concerned about?

Communication is key. The potential for a security event is a difficult topic to discuss in many of our faith communities. Most people go to worship houses for encouragement. However, as you begin to discuss security within your faith communities, you will quickly find that many people have already thought about this issue.

While there is no perfect solution, passing on a thoughtful message about your security plan to your local faith community and working with faith leadership, law enforcement and emergency officials is both responsible and reassuring. No one wants to think or talk about these things, but we can no longer pretend public safety at houses of worship is not under threat. We will all be better off expecting the best but preparing for the worst.

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2018 issue of Security Today.

About the Author

Stephanie Douglas is a senior managing director in the San Francisco office of Guidepost Solutions.

Featured

  • Evolving Cybersecurity Strategies: Uniting Human Risk Management and Security Awareness Training

    Organizations are increasingly turning their attention to human-focused security approaches, as two out of three (68%) cybersecurity incidents involve people. Threat actors are shifting from targeting networks and systems to hacking humans via social engineering methods, living off human errors as their most prevalent attack vector. Whether manipulated or not, human cyber behavior is leveraged to gain backdoor access into systems. This mainly results from a lack of employee training and awareness about evolving attack techniques employed by malign actors. Read Now

  • Report: 1 in 3 Easily Exploitable Vulnerabilities Found on Cloud Assets

    CyCognito recently released new research highlighting critical security vulnerabilities across cloud-hosted assets, revealing that one in three easily exploitable vulnerabilities or misconfigurations are found on cloud assets. As organizations increasingly shift to multi-cloud strategies, the findings underscore significant security gaps that could provide attackers with potential footholds into networks. Read Now

  • Built for Today, Ready for Tomorrow

    Selecting the right VMS is critical for any organization that depends on video surveillance to ensure safety, security and operational efficiency. While many organizations focus on immediate needs such as budget and deployment size, let us review some of the long-term considerations that can significantly impact a VMS's utility and flexibility. Read Now

  • Paving the Way to Smart Buildings

    In today's rapidly evolving security landscape, the convergence of on-prem, edge and cloud technologies are critical. The physical security landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by the rapid digitalization of buildings and the evolving needs of modern organizations. As the buildings sector pivots towards smart, AI and data-driven operations, the integration of both edge and cloud technology has become crucial. Read Now

  • The Cybersecurity Time Bomb

    If you work in physical security, you have probably seen it: a camera, access control system, or intrusion detection device installed years ago, humming along without a single update. It is a common scenario that security professionals have come to accept as "normal." But here is the reality: this mindset is actively putting organizations at risk. Read Now

New Products

  • Mobile Safe Shield

    Mobile Safe Shield

    SafeWood Designs, Inc., a manufacturer of patented bullet resistant products, is excited to announce the launch of the Mobile Safe Shield. The Mobile Safe Shield is a moveable bullet resistant shield that provides protection in the event of an assailant and supplies cover in the event of an active shooter. With a heavy-duty steel frame, quality castor wheels, and bullet resistant core, the Mobile Safe Shield is a perfect addition to any guard station, security desks, courthouses, police stations, schools, office spaces and more. The Mobile Safe Shield is incredibly customizable. Bullet resistant materials are available in UL 752 Levels 1 through 8 and include glass, white board, tack board, veneer, and plastic laminate. Flexibility in bullet resistant materials allows for the Mobile Safe Shield to blend more with current interior décor for a seamless design aesthetic. Optional custom paint colors are also available for the steel frame.

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.