Background- Since 2017 or so, I have been the head of security in a medium sized church in York PA. Not long after I began to attend the church with my family, the Pastor asked me to put a security team together. The church was fairly new and there were a few guys with ideas, but no formal mission or team. My background as an Army MP, police officer, and bouncer and my general demeanor was why he said he asked me. It seems like that was a very long time ago. Our church, country, and culture has seen a lot of change, especially over the last three years. Taking all of this into consideration, here are my thoughts on putting together a security team for a place of worship.
First and foremost, you need to know who runs the church. At some churches, it is the pastor. At other churches, it is a council of some sort that makes decisions. You need to know who you are working for. If you don’t have the support of the leadership, you are better off not having a team at all. The truth is that no matter the venue people don’t like to be told “no” or that they can’t do something. In addition to this, no matter how polite you are, they are liable to not be very happy and will complain to someone. Sadly, many people and many Christians are afraid of any sort of confrontation. I have personally seen people become very upset when told they cannot stand in an aisle or sit in a certain spot. If your leadership will entertain these types of things and not back you up, imagine what they will do if something happens that requires any physical intervention.
Church security is a different animal than other venues. The first reason is that it is well known and advertised when the church is open and has services as well as other programs. Add to that that everyone knows that all churches take collections and are designed in a way that everyone has their back to the door, and you can see where the environment is ripe for exploitation. It has been my experience that very few of your problems will come from regular attendees. When new people show up, especially if one of your churches mission fields is serving those in recovery, their attendance is likely a very abrupt change in their lives and lives of those around them. The same goes for those coming to the church to escape domestic abuse. When a person feels like someone is being ripped out of their lives or they are losing control, they are very likely to target the people or institutions supporting them. One of our biggest consistent challenges has been with couples who have split up. They may have a PFA (Protection of Abuse) Order stating that the accused is not allowed to be within a specified distance from them. In theory, whoever is there first gets to stay and the other party is supposed to leave. So, the question begs, what if they don’t? The church or the agents of the church acting on their behalf (security) has no authority to enforce these orders. What if you have a children’s program during church and the other party shows up to get the kids? These are the head scratchers that too few consider.
In our world today, if you ask someone why they think a church may want to have security the #1 reason is an active shooter. Of course, this is always a threat but statistically very unlikely to happen. The truth is that church goers trained and supplied with a tourniquet will save more people than bullets will in one of these situations. This leads me to the idea that putting a medical team together is more important than security. We have a medical team that has been identified and ranges in skill sets from First Aid / CPR certified to the nurse that runs the team. They are constantly called on for everything from low blood sugar to people passing out. We have a room for them to be triaged and an entrance use for EMS.
The last thing I want to cover here in Part I is the selection of personnel. When I was running bouncing details, I did not want anyone who talked about what a great fighter they were. I wanted even tempered “talkers” who were familiar with the crowd and had a rapport. The two places I worked the longest were a punk rock concert venue in Baltimore and pub in the bottom of a hotel at a five-star hotel. These venues had their unique challenges that required discretion. The best thing we ever did at the pub was wearing polo shirts that said, “Guest Services” instead of “Security”. That’s the mindset you want.
As a general rule, I don’t put anyone on the team that asks to be on the team. If a new person is considered, all other team members have to agree on them. Some may have noticed that I have not mentioned anything about people being armed. Performing church security should be akin to the Secret Service. If you have to use any force at all, it will draw a lot of attention and it is very likely due to a failure on your part. As an officer survival instructor, I have little use for someone who draws a gun based on fear due to incompetence with other skill sets such as de-escalation tactics and open hand control skills. Just the presentation of a firearm is the nuclear option and can be impossible to walk back. Too many carry a firearm as a totem and are clueless when it comes to the how and when to deploy it.
Personally, I like tough men with tough backgrounds that won’t curl into a fetal position if punched in the face, or punch someone else in the face if challenged. I want people with verbal & hand skills long before I even worry about whether or not they carry a firearm. In a church setting, things will be bad enough if they are ever forced to use open hand skills.
Coming up in Part II-
Pro’s & Cons of volunteer vs paid security
Most likely incidents
Physical Security 101
Insurance concerns