Church Security Incident: While listening to the sermon, a church member looked over to the man sitting next to him and noticed he had taken a gun out of his waist band. What happened next nerve racking, but demonstrates a clear need to have policies and training in place before an incident occurs.
In this video, Glen talks through the incident and raises training points to help you think through your options and to help you develop a plan to handle an incident like this one. This incident occurred one week after the tragic Maryville, IL incident where Pastor Winters was shot dead as he preached in the pulpit. Watch the video and ask yourself what you would have done.
The risk of using force in a church security operation is a great source of potential liability for any church. Recent events involving church related shootings, robberies, burglaries, and attacks have churches scrambling to place competent security in place using volunteers. There is a small chance law enforcement officers will be immediately available if your church is in sudden crisis and someone is attempting to harm people in your church building or on your church campus. Click Here to Learn More.
Thanks for the incident review. These are the things our teams need to see, tactical reviews of actual or reenacted scenarios…
Thank You for this video. This is giving me ideas for are security team to work on
As soon as a person presents a weapon, it’s game on! He should be taken down on the spot and searched for additional weapons on his person. He should not be allowed to move around the church at all. The suspect arms should be controlled or flexed cuffed if you have them in the sanctuary. Bringing that gun to the church sends him to jail automatically. The suspect should be escorted to a secure location and the police called. From what I could tell on the video, I don’t think this church had a security team but they did the best job they could under the circumstance. Good training video!
Scottmate, posession of a weapon in church is not a crime. Playing with a weapon in church, or anywhere, is in poor taste, and deserves full exercise of security measures. Brandishing a weapon, or even a bb gun in a threatening manner is where the legal ramifications come into play.
This man should’ve been subdued and held for authorities. Flexcuffs or even large zip ties would be optimal in this case to remove the threat of further antagonistic action.
This incident occurred in our home town. I am very familiar with it. The suspect had a back pack with the bb gun inside. Some response beats no response. Since then we are revamping our safety/security protocol. We are utilizing greeters and parking attendant in sizing up skills on suspious individual with 2 way radios that allow each team member to forward information to our CSO(Chief Security of Operations),cctv monitoring and total lockdown procedures. We all need to take a deep look into our safety and security measures where we worship.