8 Comments

I believe situational awareness is key to every security team. Thanks for the fantastic info. I've recommended this web site to my team at church. Thanks again.

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Just finished listening to the book "Left of Bang" by Patrick Van Horne & Jason A. Riley. I used the book to follow along. I found this book to be very instructive. It was used in DHS/TSA with the Behavior Detection Officers (BDO) at airports. Praying for you, please keep up the outstanding work.

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Keith, I am an avid follower of your work, and get a lot out of it for me and my team at church. This article is a good introductory lesson. I think it would be great if you would follow up with a next level that includes specific skills, personal tips, etc. that we can use in our teams. For instance, the stereotypical person with a trench coat in the summer. Some specific help/examples with that line between openness and not wanting to let them stay would be great. Thanks for all you do!

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Keith Thank you for what you are doing to keep churches safe and informed. A year and a half ago I was asked to put together a Safety Team. I'm a retired firefighter with 33 years of service for a large department in California. I am now residing in Texas. I put togther a policy and operating procedure manual approved by my church. After serving the church as the Safety Director for the Safety Team I resigned because I didn't have the backing of the church as far as enforcing church policy. IE minors being left unattended in class rooms. After a number of these violations by volunteer teachers and 3 teachers complaining to the Elders that I was agressive or displayed a bad attitude I was placed on probation, and I was not to instruct or correct anyone. In my 33 years of service in the fire and life safety profession I have never heard that when it comes to safety and life safety. I waited 4 months to come to a resolution hoping they would uphold their own church policy. They did not. So I resigned. I felt I could not in good conscience act as Safety Director with my hands tied.

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I am a church security team member at a church in Florida. I was recently told by a police officer that if I see someone acting suspicously and carring a suspicous package I cannot go up to that person and simply ask what's in the package. Said I would be violating their civil rights by commiting "illegal search and seizure". Is that correct?

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No. He’s wrong. You can ask anyone anything. Just make sure you have valid reasoning. It’s called a consent search. If they consent it’s lawful. If they don’t and you search, that is unlawful.

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The SAR model is important because it is one of your first lines of defense. Combined with cameras it is much more effective. I will be glade when our security cameras are up and functional. it is

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👍👏

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