Do you really know who is coming into your church?

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I just read an article from Vallejo, CA, “Man attempts to light North Bay church pastor on fire”.  A suspect from a purse snatching ran into a church only to hold the pastor hostage until he was subdued by other church members.  The suspect first attempted to stab the pastor but when he couldn’t get his razor blade open he then tried to light the pastor on fire with a lighter.  

​This article reminded me of something that once happened to me and how we are constantly saying “secure your doors”.  
 
A month before the Charleston Church shooting I had been asked to do some church safety training at an African-American church in St. Petersburg.  Monica Lamar who does firearms training out at the Allstate Center in St. Petersburg asked if I would come out and help her with her safety team. We set a date in August of course not knowing about what was about to happen.  Then on the evening of June 17, 2015 evil walked into the in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and murdered nine innocent people.  This event woke up churches across the country that we were not safe anymore and we needed to start working on ways to protect the flock.
 
A week before the August training I had some time before I had to be at work, so I decided to do a walkthrough of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church (FMBC), Monica’s church.  I was working for the Town of Belleair and as their detective my uniform of the day was dress slacks and dress shirt with my weapon and badge showing on my belt.  Detectives in Florida don’t normally cover up their guns.  I arrived at FMBC and walked up to the front door.  Next to the door there was a sign, “Ring Bell for Entrance”.  Before I rang the bell I pull on the door handle and not to my surprise the door was unlocked.  I walked into the vestibule unannounced and headed toward the worship center. Just a little side note, FMBC worship center took my breath away, if you want to see what a worship center should look like go there.
 
As I stood there in awe and thanking God that He had set this up I heard a voice behind me asking if he could help me. I turned around and met the facility manager Oscar Davenport for the first time.  I could see in Oscar’s face a little concern; I am sure he was thinking who is the unannounced guy in the church with a gun?  Remember, Charleston had just happened and here in an all African-American church stands a white guy with a gun. In my mind I thought Oscar, you are one of the bravest men I have ever met.  Oscar had not yet seen my badge because he had walked up on my backside, but he still approached me and asked if he could help me. Seeing his expression I quickly identified myself and as soon as I mentioned my name and Trinity Security Allies a relief and a big friendly grin came to his face.  He told me he was aware of the training and was looking forward to it.  He welcomed me to walk around the church and if there was anything I needed just let him know.
 
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard pastors tell me how they love to come into the office early to study, pray or just have that quiet time before their hectic day begins when all of the sudden they realize they are not alone and when they turn around they find a distraught husband or a homeless person that has gotten into their office unannounced. They tell me that after the initial shock they think, “why didn’t I lock the front door”?  And I always respond, “why didn’t you?”. 
 
Now we want the church to be an open and welcoming place, but we need to remember that when it is not hours of operation, it needs to be locked down.  The only people that seem to be upset over this are those that either don’t understand the concept of security and leave their car doors unlocked during the night or don’t understand that there are people out there that would like to do nothing better than to rob, cut or hurt someone inside the church (remember the story we started out with?).
 
Our own church had a suspect, that was running from the Pasco Deputies, hit an unlocked back door and run through the church trying to escape law enforcement.  No telling what might have happened if he grabbed and took a person hostage in the church like the guy did in the article.  If you are not open for service all doors must be locked.  Staff all have keys to get around the church, but I will say this again, all doors must be locked while the church is not open.
 
But you ask, when do we leave the doors unlocked, and my response is never unless you have a Greeter or church member at the door.  We need to look at everyone that comes into the church, we need to be looking at the members, guest, those that are hurting and for those that might come into your church to cause harm.  In “Threat Profiling” we teach you what to look for before it gets to your door.  If your Greeters go into service after church starts then a Safety Team Member must be aware of the door and watch for any possible threats.  We also recommend someone out in the parking lot watching for those running late that might be a threat. 
 
If you want to make your church as open as possible then place someone at the door at all times, even during the service.  If they can’t be there then your Safety Team has to be in a position to watch all doors until that person can get back to their post.  If the door is not a main entrance on hours of operation it needs to be locked, all members of the church need to come in and out of specific doors and all others locked. Understand what makes a church open and friendly is not the doors, it is the people inside the church.
 
One more thing about my walk through at FMBC.  As I walked through the administrative area I was stopped by two ladies that worked there.  One asked me how I got in and I told her the door was unlocked.  Both ladies started pointing the finger at each other about who’s day it was to lock the door.  Make it everyone’s responsibility to lock the doors when church is not officially open.  I quickly left the building before I got in trouble for not ringing the doorbell.