Church Security & Safety Teams

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Season one, episodethree of the Defensive Skills
Academy podcast.
I'm your host, Joe, and todaywe'll be talking about church
and security and safety.
This episode is brought to youby Dynamic Tactics.
Church Security and safety hasbecome an important topic over
the last few years as churchesand houses of worship have been

(00:22):
targets for violent attack.
However, with a well organizedand trained security and safety
team, this can help deterpotential threats and provide a
safe environment for theparishioners.
A church security team hasvarious roles and
responsibilities focused onensuring the safety and security

(00:43):
of the church and its members.
Implementing protocols iscrucial to maintaining a secure
environment for worship andcommunity activity.
These protocols include limitingaccess to sanctuaries during
worship services, securing achildren's area if there is one,

(01:03):
and maintaining surveillancethroughout the premise, both
inside and out.
A well-qualified security teamshould be well-trained and able
to assess areas within andaround the facility for
potential weaknesses and pointsof entry.
By identifying and addressingthese vulnerabilities, the team

(01:25):
can ease risk and create a saferenvironment for all.
One of the first steps inestablishing a security and
safety team is to clearly definethe roles and responsibilities
of each team member.
By doing this, this will ensureeveryone is on the same page and
knows exactly what is expectedof them.

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You do this by starting a safetyand security committee if you
don't already have one.
Some of the common roles ofthese security teams and their
general responsibilities are asfollows.
The team members will beresponsible for implementing
security policies, procedures,and for monitoring the church

(02:09):
during services as well as otherchurch events.
They should be trained in basicsecurity techniques.
Such as observation and incidentmanagement.
These individuals should be thesame people that are members of
the safety committee team, theteam leader, their job is to

(02:30):
oversee all the securityoperation and coordinate
responsibilities among teammembers and either switch
members around in case someone'ssick or cannot attend, or if
there is an area that is notcovered, the usher.
They will control the access tothe strength of sanctuary.

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They direct attendees to theirseats and oversee the overall
crowd management.
If you have greeter, this personis to welcome and guide
visitors, ensuring they feelsafe and comfortable in and
around the facility.

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The job of the security officeris to monitor for potential
safety hazards such as firerisks and structural issues.
They implement preventivemeasures, they and implement
preventive measures.
Excuse me.
The medical team providesemergency medical assistance,

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including C-P-R-A-E-D and firstaid.
If you have.
Parishioners who are nurses,paramedics, EMTs, firefighters,
police officers, they would be agreat asset in this position.
Communications, if someone ismonitoring the cameras, that's

(03:55):
also the communication officer.
This member, they handlecommunication between the
security team, church staff, andemergency services.
All calls go through this teammember.
Including any calls to 9 1 1, awell-prepared security team will
maintain constant surveillancethroughout the premises.

(04:18):
This should include monitoringthe parking lot, any buildings,
the hallways, classrooms well asthe sanctuary itself constantly
remaining vigilant.
Security personnel can quicklyrespond to any potential threats
or unusual activities, ensuringthe safety of the parishioners.

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Securities teams play a crucialrole and should prioritize the
protection of the parishionersby maintaining a secure
environment.
Security needs to serve as adeterrent to potential threats,
allowing worshipers to focus onthe spiritual journey within the
community.
One of the things that securityneeds to be aware of are

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individuals who are part of thechurch, the congregation who are
armed, but are not part of thesecurity team, so that if
something does happen, theydon't pull the concealed firearm
and start shooting.
It needs to be made clear to allparishioners that there's a
security team and those membersare trained and armed.

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And they will respond to anyincidents that may occur.
If you want the parishioners tobe part of the security team
training, hold drills with staffand church members.
If your church has a school withthe drama club, those students
would make.
Those students would be goodpretend victims so that the

(05:53):
security team can train better.
Remember?
If you do something like this,no live ammunition, no firearms
will be allowed if you decide togo through a training company to
help with something like this.
Um, DSA, this is what we do hereat DSA.

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All firearms will be checked andsecured by the DSA staff.
Inert weapons or ass off weaponswill be used and handed out by
DSA staff members.
Some of the elements of aneffective church security
protocols are as follows, let'sdo access control, surveillance,

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emergency response, and the mostimportant in my opinion, is
training and certification.
This provides comprehensivetraining and certification
programs for security teammembers to enhance their skills
and readiness.
That is important because ifyou're not ready and something
happens.
Who knows what could go wrong.

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By following these guidelinesand implementing good security
measures, security teams can dotheir duty and safeguard
parishioners by having a safeenvironment where they can
worship.
Above is just some informationregarding church security and
safety teams.
There's a lot more to it if youhave a security team thinking of

(07:20):
starting a team at yourcongregation.
Or know of a church who has, orthinking about starting a
security and safety team, go toour website,
www.defensiveskills.com.
I'm sorry, that'swww.defensiveskillsacademy.com,

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or email us [e-mail].
DSA can help with this processin many ways, including
C-P-R-A-E-D certification.
Um, first aid certification andmore.
Sometimes having others just tosee if you are doing everything
that needs to be done tosafeguard the congregation and

(08:03):
as parishioners, that just mightbe the best thing.
If you are listening to this andyou're not in the area of
Pennsylvania and you would likesomething like this, drop us an
email [e-mail].
And we will do our best to hookyou up with an accredited,

(08:24):
certified instructor or teamthat could help you get yours
started, as well as maintain thegood and proper training and
certification.
Thank you for listening to theDefensive Skills Academy.
We hope you enjoyed our contentand find it informative.

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Until next week.