Safeguarding Your Church

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Safeguarding Your Church

• Debbie Scholz
• Emergency Response and Preparedness Planner SEA
  Consulting Group
• Harbor View Presbyterian Church

2
Purpose

• To provide you with ideas, tools, and guidance on
  how to best protect the property and people of
  your church from
• Thefts
• Accidents
• Mis-use of Facility
• Assault / Injury
• Fire / Natural Disaster
• Other

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Agenda

• Topics Being Addressed in this Presentation
• Physical Plant Safety
• Corporate Safety Policies
• Member Safety
• User Safety Requirements and Policies
• Insurance Review / Audits
• Training Education Needs
• Update and Maintenance of Plans and Policies

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Wont Happen Here Attitude

• It wont happen here.
• If it does happen here, it wont affect me.
• If it does affect me, it wont be that bad.
• If it is that bad, I cant do anything about it
  anyway!
• WRONG!

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Disclaimer

• There is no such thing as 100 effectiveness!
• Security is a component of Safety.
• Security and Safety are attitudes ALL staff and
  congregation members must adopt otherwise you
  are doomed to fail.
• Complacency Encourages Crime.
• Bottom Line your church is not a prison and
  should serve your community and membership, but
  you need to minimize your potential loss risk!

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Systematic Approach

• Keys to Achieving a Safe Church
• Utilize a Planning Cycle cant do it all at
  once!
• Many of the topics in this presentation are
  common sense itemsregular maintenance /
  oversight is required

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Step 1 Planning

• You probably already have many of these items in
  place or underway may just need to be
  formalized
• Many of these items in this presentation are
  common sense requirements
• Most Insurance Companies now require the use of
  Best Practices for Church Safety
• See what other churches already have dont have
  to re-invent the wheel Steal Shamelessly from
  others and customize for your purposes
• Reach out to your local Emergency Planning
  Department (EPD, Fire, Police often your own
  members) for additional information / guidance
• Legal Review of all plans/policies is highly
  recommended

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Planning Corollaries

• Plans are only as good as the information
  incorporated into them
• If you dont use and/or maintain a plan, it is
  essentially a door stop not much good for
  anything except holding the door open
• Safety is not a passive strategy
• Hope is not a strategy when addressing planning
  needs

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Physical Plant Safety

• Conduct Internal Audit of Facility ( to )
• Secure the facility general (regular)
  maintenance is key
• Repair broken windows, doors, locks, etc.
• Remove bushes and shrubs that block doorways and
  line of sight
• Ensure all trees and shrubs are well pruned,
  especially near outbuildings
• Fencing and gates operational and utilized
  effectively
• Identify and address Slip, Trip, and Fall
  hazards internally and externally from
• Rain / Snow / Ice
• Localized flooding and drainage issues in parking
  lot, egress areas, etc.

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Physical Plant Safety, Cont.

• Lighting ( to )
• Replace all burned out bulbs / lights regularly
• Incorporate motion-detection and emergency
  lighting at all ingress and egress points,
  bathrooms, etc.
• Hard-wired lights
• Solar lights

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Physical Plant Safety, Cont.

• Signage ( to )
• Clearly mark facilities, internally and
  externally
• Are signs clean, clear, and readable? From a
  distance? Up close?
• Spelled correctly?
• Attractive and Professional?
• Do they direct people to where they need to go?
• Are lighted signs working? If not repair /
  replace

Signs! Signs! Everywhere theres signs.Blocking
out the scenery, breaking my mindDo this, dont
do that, Cant you read the sign?
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Physical Plant Safety, Cont.

• Access Controls ( to )
• Alarm Systems
• (Fire / Security)
• Panic bars with alarms for exterior doors
• Provide view windows for all interior doors
• Must be able to see into all rooms from outside

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Physical Plant Safety, Cont.

• Develop Strict Key Control Policy ( to )
• How many people have keys to your facility?
• Master Keys
• Main Ingress / Egress doors
• Interior Rooms
• Other
• Do you have a list of all keys and who has them?
• Are they numbered / accounted for?
• If not, its time to Re-Key!

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Physical Plant Safety, Cont.

• Develop and maintain complete inventory of all
  Church property ()
• Electronics (computers, copiers, A/V Equipment,
  Phones, FAX, etc.)
• Music (sheet, choir, other)
• Furniture
• Room by room
• Facility design, upgrades, HVAC systems, etc.
• List brand, model and serial numbers, value, of
  copies, etc.
• Photograph and video inventory also recommended
• Inscribe electronics and furniture with church
  name, phone number or use Property of tags
• Maintain several copies dont put all of your
  eggs in one basket!
• May want to provide CD copy of all files to your
  Insurance Company

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Example Photo Inventory
Example Equipment Inventory
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Physical Plant Safety, Cont.

• Copper Thefts ( to )
• A/C system thefts can cause 3,000 75,000 in
  damages per event
• 8/2009 - 1M copper stolen from School
  construction site - Greenville
• 12/2009 - 60-70K in AC unit theft Summerville
• 7/2010 Copper water pipes stolen from home
  Charleston
• 8/2010 Copper removed from A/C unit -
  Charleston
• 8/2010 Copper gas line stolen from home
  Charleston
• Copper downspouts, copper roofing, etc., are also
  targeted

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Physical Plant Safety, Cont.

• Copper Thefts, Continued
• In 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy called
  copper theft a 1-billion problem that was
  getting worse (DOE, 2007)
• Many churches in the Charleston Atlantic
  Presbytery have experienced these thefts
• Insurance deductibles are often highseverely
  impacting the affected facility

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Physical Plant Safety, Cont.

• Guard Against Copper Thefts by
• Installing lights, trim shrubbery to provide
  visibility of copper sources
• Protecting A/C units with locked fencing or cages
  leave room for servicing
• Consulting with alarm companies for additional
  protection options

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Physical Plant Safety, Cont.

• Church Vehicles and Trailers ( to )
• Stealing, outright
• Removal of equipment
• Vandalism
• Destruction
• Other

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Physical Plant Safety, Cont.

• Church Vehicles Trailers Theft / Vandalism
  Protection
• Enclose vehicles / trailers with fencing
• Secure vehicles with alarms and CLUB on steering
  wheel
• Park in place visible by passing motorists /
  residents
• Engrave / weld name onto trailers / frame or etch
  windows
• Mark trailers with special paint-jobs, decals,
  lettering, etc.
• Spray paint name / phone number inside of trailer
  in fluorescent paint
• Obtain license plates for trailer so serial /
  VIN number on record

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Physical Plant Safety, Cont.

• Church Historical Data
• Church Registers and other data for your church
• Is this information archived anywhere? Is it
  stored in a secure place resistant to fire /
  flooding?
• Most churches only have electronic records from
  mid 1980s forward often these are stored on
  media that you can no-longer retrieve
• Established back-up procedures?
• Have you identified who has copies in case of
  evacuation?
• Alternate storage site for all information (on
  line? Member home?, Pastor, etc.?)

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Physical Plant Safety, Cont.

• After doing initial Physical Plant Updates,
  Request a Crime Prevention / Security Survey ()
• Free Audit by Charleston Police Department
  previously by Sgt. Trevor Shelor
  (SHELORT_at_ci.charleston.sc.us) or
• Use other Security Company
• Privacy Opportunity Crime Risk
• Build Layers of protection to reduce risk
• Should address
• Thefts / Vandalism / Security issues by
  unauthorized persons defined by CCPD as
  thieves, vandals, beggars, homeless persons
  seeking shelter, pedophiles, non-custodial
  parents, violent individuals, or curious
  trespassers

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Corporate Safety Policies

• Develop Plans / Policies for your Church.
  Examples can include ( to )
• Employee Manuals
• Elder Manuals
• Disaster Response Plans / Hurricane Plans
• Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP) Business
  Continuity
• Communication Plans emergency contact teams
• Member Care Plans
• Credit Card Use Policy
• Vehicle Driver Certification Policy required
  for use of Church vehicles when transporting
  members or other individuals

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Corporate Safety Policies

• Data Security Management Policies
• Church Key Control Plan
• Worship Service Safety Plans
• Parking Lot Safety Plans
• Facility Use Policy
• Meeting Use BSA, GSA, NA, AA, Etc.
• Weddings
• Funerals
• Visiting Groups / Mission Groups
• Facility Rentals Other (e.g., use of gymnasium
  for basketball, aerobics, etc.)

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Corporate Safety Policies, Cont.

• Member Care Policies provide unified safety /
  security for all members and facility users
• Covenant of Care Policy with Children, Youth, and
  Vulnerable Adults (or similar) for on-site and
  off-site activities
• Training and education requirements ( to )
• Background checks (DSS and National Offenders
  List) ( to )
• Hard to achieve at all times but necessary
• Expect push-back from members NOT POPULAR
• May be required from insurance standpoint

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Insurance Reviews / Audits

• Establish Committee to annually review insurance
  requirements / needs for your Church. This may
  include but is not limited to
• Commercial Property Building and Contents
• Hurricane / Wind Hail
• Earthquake
• Commercial General Liability Additional
  Liability Coverage
• Automobile Insurance
• Workers Compensation
• Umbrella Policy
• ?

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Insurance Reviews / Audits, Cont.

• Understand Limits and Exclusions of Policies
• What is the deductible for each component? Can
  your church budget afford a deductible of 2-12
  of total value from a fire or natural disaster?
• 50,000? 120,000? 200,000
• Replacement Cost or Current Value?
• Loss of Income
• Who is allowed to drive Church vehicles? Are
  there any restrictions or training required?
• Conduct insurance audit with Insurer evaluate
  the realities of your situation annually ( to
  )

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Step 2 Implementation

• Provide information and training to staff and
  congregation for new policies and plans
• Keep everyone informed Use what you already
  have in place for communications in your church
• Announcements in Church
• Bulletins
• News letters
• Church gatherings / events
• Mailings
• Websites
• Social Networking facebook, Twitter, etc.
• Where necessary, conduct training on the material
• Get the word out using all means available!

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Step 3 Evaluation

• Conduct Annual Reviews of all plans, policies,
  and protocols (at a minumum)
• Most plans are living documents and should be
  modified as circumstances warrant
• Collect all changes and lessons learned from the
  year and ensure that these changes are reflected
  in your planning documents and procedures
• Review Insurance requirements relative to your
  existing policies
• Are all plans still necessary?
• Are there new components of your church life that
  needs to be addressed?
• Have significant losses been incurred? People,
  financial, facility, etc.? Did these losses
  change your Church operations?

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Step 4 Review Update

• Release revised plans ensure that date stamp or
  version number is incorporated into document
• Provide Education and training updates to staff
  and congregations on changes make it easy for
  everyone to be informed
• Announcements in Church
• Bulletins
• Newsletters
• Church gatherings / events
• Mailings
• Websites
• Social Networking facebook, Twitter, etc.
• Post finals to website (where applicable) and
  maintain print copies in Church office for easy
  access

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For More Information

• Contact Other Churches in your area for copies of
  their existing planning documents
• Visit Church / Presbytery Websites for additional
  ideas
• Contact Local Emergency Planners / Law
  Enforcement Agencies for ideas and information
• Contact your insurance agent for information

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Thank you

• For copies of this presentation or for copies of
  documents discussed in this presentation, contact
  me at
• Debbie Scholz
• dscholz_at_seaconsulting.com
• 843-367-5126
• Ms. Scholz is an Emergency Response /
  Preparedness Planner with SEA Consulting Group
  here in Charleston, SC for more than 18 years
  and is the current chair of the Harbor View
  Presbyterian Churchs Administration Committee
  that oversees these plans, policies and
  associated documents.