Hindrances to Church Security
In April of 1967, when asked what led to the Apollo 1 fire that killed 3 crewmembers, Astronaut Frank Borman, a member of the post-accident investigation team, replied, “failure of imagination.” He went on to say that “NASA knew a fire was a real possibility in the spacecraft, but they always imagined it occurring in space and not on terra firma. They never imagined a fire being an issue during such a routine plugs-out test, otherwise the test would have been considered dangerous. This failure of imagination cost the lives of three heroes.”
Failure, or rather lack of imagination is often born out of complacency…the status quo. We often do things because that’s what we are supposed to do, or what is directed by the conventional wisdom. “We’ve never had a problem in the past”, or “we’ve always done it like that” are common replies after some events that have caused injury or worse.
Fast forward now from 1967 to the 27th of March 2023, where that day saw a school shooting that left six persons dead, three of which were elementary school children.
Without getting too far down into the causation or timeline of the events, it is sufficient for this article to note that the school, like most had a protocol of denying entry at other than a designated location where visitors could be screened as potential threats.
So how did the shooter then gain access to the school? By shooting out the glass of a monitored door, where a security camera surveyed the entire entry.
Let’s be honest here, how many people would have thought that a potential school shooter would gain entry by shooting out the glass panels of a door and then simply walk in? Probably no one! We all thought that a locked door, without regard to its composition, meant security.
And therein lies the lesson voiced by Colonel Borman some 55 years prior, the lack of imagination.
A security program is more than a group of well-meaning people in a church or ministry that carry guns. Oh, they might go to the range, but even that is a lack of imagination. How is a stationary target 5 or 10 feet away even a good representation of some would be shooter in your church or school?
Lack of imagination is, in part, creating a security program that is stood up to only satisfy a basic requirement…one that is minimal in scope and cost. A significant number of churches, and ministries, and especially schools, feel obligated to have some kind of security because of the current culture. As a result, those in charge of the effort reach out to the internet, find a cookie cutter program and checklist, and try to implement that program at their church or ministry. More often than not the downloaded checklist or document outlining the steps for a security program contain sections that are not applicable and are therefore either ignored or scratched out. Since the church or ministry did not formulate the plan no one on the church or ministry security team really knows the true scope of the program or its vision.
Let’s be honest, we’ve all read documents that with in a few moments you realize that what you are reading is something doctored up to fit the situation at hand, and it is evident that what you are reading either is not workable or that it has sections that are just not applicable.
Rarely are canned security programs and checklists rewritten, or modified, or more importantly expanded to meet the need of a specific church or ministry.
Instead of a security program, churches and ministries need to evaluate their situation and ask themselves what they need to do to keep their members safe as well as secure. The process starts with asking “what could happen”, and “what is the logical outcome should that eventuality come to pass.”
Security is only one aspect of protecting the members of your church or your ministry program. Don’t create a security program – create a protection program, one that encompasses things like safety, or any potential hazards as well as protection of property and equipment.
Lack of imagination limits not only the scope of a church or ministries protection program but it also limits the breath of a program and the training required.
Lack of imagination is but one of the hinderances to a church or ministry safety and security program the other most common hindrances are inertia, normalcy bias and/or ambivalence.
Hindrances to church or ministry security are, and will be, the “Achilles” heel of that program. These hindrances will primarily come in the form of leadership and congregational attitudes toward the program, and they are:
Inertia is either the force needed to get started or effort to get the leadership “off center” and has three aspects:
Lack of enthusiasm from members of the leadership team who oppose the creation of a program for various reasons (from monetary to normalcy bias and/or ambivalence), but yet are tasked with its creation.
Inertia also stems from a misunderstanding of the scope and size of a potential program. Leadership often sees the development of a safety and security program as a daunting insurmountable task, obstacles or cost.
Inertia has a strong link to the fundamental constraints of dollar and/or manpower. Not just in the immediacy of launching a program but also in sustaining a program that requires program updates, training and testing of critical aspects of the program, such as conducting a medical emergency drill, or maintaining certification such as CPR and AED procedures.
Normalcy bias – speaks to people not fully underestimating the possibility of a disaster or other potential catastrophic event. Simply put, normalcy bias will display itself in one of several ways within the church body. Nothing has ever happened here; therefore, nothing will ever happen here.
Bad things happen somewhere else, not here.
We (the church) are in a safe neighborhood therefore nothing is going to happen. Variations of the safe neighborhood bias include a physical location next to a fire station or other emergency service etc.
Downplaying the end result of a threat encounter, disaster or medical emergency. We (the church) are in a safe neighborhood therefore nothing is going to happen. Variations of the safe neighborhood bias include a physical location next to a fire station or other emergency service etc.
Downplaying the end result of a threat encounter, disaster or medical emergency.
Ambivalence – This attitude will be prevalent, and more so in those who perform functions for the other operations of the ministries or the church (audio/visual, teachers, ushers, and greeters, etc.). Ambivalence will give way to tension. The tension will come when a portion of the security/safety program conflicts with currently established routines that require change, or when availability of funds is an issue, and a choice is required to fund a security/safety program verse another program.
Lack of imagination – the cookie cutter approach that usually stems from a host of reasons cited above, but also trying to use a round peg in square hole if you will. One example is using a web search generated security checklist that doesn’t fit your situation. Another is key person or persons not fully understanding the task at hand, that is doing an analysis of the organization looking for weaknesses and vulnerabilities to the organization’s safety and security.