Do we arm our Church Security Team?
This is one of the most difficult questions facing church leadership who have decided to
implement a Church Security or Safety Team for their congregation. Church is supposed to be a safe place for all to come and spend time with the Lord in worship. Understand that violent encounters seem to be happening on a much more frequent basis than in the past, the idea that it will not happen here is not as sure as in past years. Violence has occurred at churches, malls, businesses, high schools and colleges and seems to be increasing.
After reviewing most of the shooting incidents, it is apparent that the heaviest damage is done before the police have time to get on site. Most critical incidents last less than 6 minutes.
In the reality of today’s events, I believe that we need to be prepared to stop the “Active Shooter” that has become more common over the past years. The potential for a terrorist attack is also increasing in today’s world. A quick look at recent critical incidents shows the damage a single “Active Shooter” can inflict in a few minutes.
With the exception of the recent shooting in Colorado, where a female church security member stopped the killer, none of the shooters stopped their carnage until they ran out of ammunition, gave up or killed themselves.
Known church shootings.
Richmond, CA 3/08 ——-1 Dead ——-3 Wounded
Maryland 3/08 ——-3 Wounded
Bucks County, PA 1/08 ——-1 Dead
Newton County, MO 7/08 3 Dead 4 wounded
Colorado 12/07 ——-4 Dead ——-3 Wounded
Seattle Washington, 7/06 ——-1 Dead ——-5 Wounded
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 5/06 ——-5 Dead
Detroit, MI 2/06 ——-3 Dead ——-1 Wounded
Brookfield, WI 2/05 ——-7 Dead
Sash, TX 8/05 ——-4 Dead
Fort Pierce, Fla. 2/04 ——-1 Dead
Rochester Hills, MI 3/03 ——-1 Dead ——-10 Wounded
Atlanta, GA ——-3 Dead
NYC,NY 3/02 ——-2 Dead
Long Island, NY ——-1 Dead
Columbia, TN 12/99 ——-1 Dead ——-1 Wounded
Wedgewood, TX 9/99 ——-8 Dead ——-7 Wounded
Gonzales, LO 3/99 ——-4 Dead
Trotwood, OH 9/98 ——-1 Dead
Salmon, Idaho 9/97 ——-1 Dead
Germantown, MI ——-1 Dead
NYC,NY 10/88 ——-1 Dead
Should the Entire Team be Armed?
- This will depend on your circumstances. In most cases, NO!
- Many of our team members are not experienced shooters but love to help people.
- Not all people are warriors and have the mindset needed to take action.
- There also needs to be a time investment for training, both range time as well as Force On Force and Hand To Hand. This is a substantial time commitment that not all are willing to do.
- In our case about 30% of the team is authorized for a sidearm.
- The rest of the team are great people and love to help where ever needed and are very important to the team makeup and our ability to do the mission.
Who knows about the armed staff?
In our case, very few people! The entire security team is aware of the armed staff, as well as the pastoral staff, the head usher, the leader of the medical staff, and our insurance company.
We have advised the local police department of that fact. Our local PD has an active shooter program and can be on site in our sector in 4 to 6 minutes. They must be aware of us or we put our staff at risk when they would enter the building at the 6 minute mark. This is why you must build a relationship with local law enforcement.
Open or Concealed Carry
I truly believe that unless you are hiring off duty uniformed officers that the sidearms should be concealed. The majority of our church family has no idea that some of our staff is armed. Our reasons for that are as follows:
1. You have the element of surprise.
2. You become less of a target if you are not known to be armed.
3. Bad guys can scout out and plan their actions and decide to take out the armed guard first.
4. It is easier to implement as the general public is not frightened about guns in church.
5. People talk, if you are openly showing weapons, your staff becomes a target for the bad guys
6. Many church members become uncomfortable around firearms and this creates another battle to fight that may slow down your team startup.
Risk Assessment – The peril of doing nothing
You need to evaluate the needs of your organization and realize the consequences and liability of doing nothing. What does your area require for due diligence to avoid liability? We can no longer say “it will never happen here” as evidenced by the recent shootings. Failure to make this effort may be considered negligence and not covered by the church insurance policy. Can your church survive a legal finding of 1 to 10 million dollars in losing a court battle? 
