I have been part of a church security team for quite a few years. We recently had a local attorney from the DA address the group in a training session on the use of force. The recommendation was to, if possible, never be the first to start using force (laying a hand on the interrupter). If the situation warrants, you can get close-in to be a barrier between them and the congregation. If THEY initiate even just a touch to move you away, you can respond by laying hands on. This protects the team and church from needless lawsuits. Plus, it may be that gentle talking might de-escalate the situation from becoming more serious. Getting the police involved as early as possible in the situation also helps (if they are available). If the interrupter appears to not want to back down or stop, we "trespass" them...tell them formally that they are trespassing, disrupting our service, and they are hereby instructed to leave immediately. That lets them clearly know that from this point, they are here illegally.
We have reduced our entry points to one. If they enter the campus dressed like them they will be stopped in the parking lot or outside of the one entry door. If they dress like 'normal' people we do have female security members to help. In other words, 'Yes, we do profile'. If you don't, you are asking for problems.
We had a similar situation at my church months ago but it was only 1 female. She was yelling prior to service and one of my security team and I were the only one present so I was able to get her out of the sanctuary and calm her down. I do agree that we need females on the team and so far we've already recruited 2. Also thanks for the tips
Hey Rapper, great job! It sounds like you handled the situations including recruiting females for the team! Thanks for watching and commenting and thank you for protecting your church and people!
Also, there is most likely someone with them who is recording everything they are doing for propaganda purposes. They usually hang back behind the disruptors. Have someone remove them first because when their recording ends, their disruption has lost its purpose.
Great training as always. I noticed they came in costume and had a large poster board. Clue that things were not as they seem. Having security at the front door screening people might have prevented this from happening, but I don't know the full story or how they run their security. Will pass this on to my team. Thanks again.
Mr Puckett I’m glad to say that we have a seven person team at our church, and one of them is the wife of another team member. I’ve had our team AED and CPR certified.
Wow Eric! That sounds like a great team and you are prepared for the number one issue we face statistically at church, which is medical issues! Awesome!
Good breakdown. My church has many police that attend off duty. We also have some females on the safety team. Our safety team is mostly comprised of former/off duty LEO/Executive Protection Agents./Security Officers etc so ideally in a situation like this we are pretty well covered.
@@ChurchSecurityAnswers Thank you for everything you do. I have personally learned a lot from your videos. Things I don’t think we all think of day to day. Your resources are invaluable to ministry safety.
I don’t think the security team should act in a protest. Call police , tell protesters to leave, press charges for criminal trespass. The ushers should take care of the protesters. The armed security team should be standing back and be ready if violence erupts.
Any, and I mean any, unexpected movement towards the altar, and therefore our Celebrant, is considered an aggressive incursion and a possible attack. We immediately position ourselves between the Priest and any protester and then lay hands on the disrupters, our force applied tempered by their reactions. They can leave under their own power, quietly, or not, but they will go. But, a group such as this most likely will not make it inside our building. Our parking lot team will inform the entire building team that strangers behaving oddly are approaching. All entry doors are routinely locked 5 min before the service begins and late-comers must be admitted by the person manning that specific door. No person is allow to carry any unusual item into the building. Yes, winter presents an issue with coats being draped over an arm so we watch carefully. We are constantly on the watch for that that doesn't seem routine.
We have females on our security, usher and greeter teams. It is also against the law in Michigan to disrupt a religious service, so in my training seminars in my home state of Michigan I encourage folks to work as a team, have someone make contact and work on the de-escalation aspect while another colleague in on the phone to at least get the cops coming! The cops are hardly ever there fast enough, so at least get them coming! If the disrupters leave before the police arrive, and the trouble was often gone by the time I arrived on scene, great. But if they are still there when police arrive, hand it over to them to deal with the trespass issue. I tell folks that I rather have you cancel and disregard the police as they pull into the lot than call when things have gone really, really bad and the police have to make their way from the other side of the city, or town, or county, dealing with traffic to get to you!
What does the Bible have to say about some of this? Should a pastor explain that anyone may speak a word, if they believe something needs to be said, and then another may judge, and the one who first spoke is to remain silent while the other judges, and another one may judge the second word, but the one who had a word judged by another is not to speak back. ? Wouldn't that avoid arguments? However, it would be upon the church itself to judge itself and some will do better at that than others. If you give a word and you believe it is of God and it is refused, maybe the best thing to do is leave. If it was of God, you did your part, didn't you? Would that be right nor not?
Thats awesome Keith! Sometimes it is hard to be on high alert when nothing generally happens.....but you have to be on alert right now and I am glad to hear it! Thanks for sharing.
@@ChurchSecurityAnswers Also, our team is fairly "young" (2 years-ish, formed after the Freeway Church Of Christ shootimg) and I'm recommending your channel for our continued training meetings. Thanks for the work you do.
I'm not sure I agree with getting our wives or other family member involved in something when you're not sure whats going on. Smart phones have cameras for a reason, and multiple people can film from various angles, and that should be witness enough. I think we have to get over this fear of women like they are untouchable.
Hey Victor, thanks for watching and commenting. At some point when someone refuses to leave, my opinion is you have to make a decision to remove them or ??? In this case, if they do in fact refuse to leave, we could push them out, pick them up and carry them out or I really like the idea of calling police at this point (if they won't leave, when you ask). No one is being hurt or being threatened with harm from the protestors. Why not turn this over to police who are trained to do this and can help to soften your liability in this case if someone were to get injured in the process or claim they were "injured" while they were being removed from your church. This is a touchy topic and I am hoping this generates a lot of conversations with security teams and church leaders.
911 emergency services are rolling and "please cooperate and depart the premises. Law enforcement is called." Then push/usher them out by reasonable means. "Let me tell you about Jesus."
If you need to go hands on, hand on shoulder is a terrible idea. You need to utilize joint locks. If you can speak to them and get them to leave, even better. But again if you need to go hands on, don’t just touch their shoulder. Use joint locks. Can’t stress this enough.
Females” Just say women. Yes we are females, but so are animals and plants (most plants are both). You guys may not use it as insult, but some men do. They will say men and females instead of men and women or males and females. I haven’t heard it in real life, but have came across it on the internet.
Thats ok Russell.....you can still just wear a name tag lanyard to note that you are with the security team or guest services team. Easy to fit in with the rest of your church attendees and still do security, with a suit too!
Hey Mike, this was in a downtown Los Angeles cathedral - here is one story about it. www.foxnews.com/us/handmaids-tale-protesters-disrupt-mass-in-la-cathedral
I will protest an apostate church that rebels against God and fly the rainbow FLAG. But we do it on the outside and call the apostate church to repentance.
I have been part of a church security team for quite a few years. We recently had a local attorney from the DA address the group in a training session on the use of force. The recommendation was to, if possible, never be the first to start using force (laying a hand on the interrupter). If the situation warrants, you can get close-in to be a barrier between them and the congregation. If THEY initiate even just a touch to move you away, you can respond by laying hands on. This protects the team and church from needless lawsuits. Plus, it may be that gentle talking might de-escalate the situation from becoming more serious. Getting the police involved as early as possible in the situation also helps (if they are available). If the interrupter appears to not want to back down or stop, we "trespass" them...tell them formally that they are trespassing, disrupting our service, and they are hereby instructed to leave immediately. That lets them clearly know that from this point, they are here illegally.
We have reduced our entry points to one. If they enter the campus dressed like them they will be stopped in the parking lot or outside of the one entry door. If they dress like 'normal' people we do have female security members to help. In other words, 'Yes, we do profile'. If you don't, you are asking for problems.
We had a similar situation at my church months ago but it was only 1 female. She was yelling prior to service and one of my security team and I were the only one present so I was able to get her out of the sanctuary and calm her down. I do agree that we need females on the team and so far we've already recruited 2. Also thanks for the tips
Hey Rapper, great job! It sounds like you handled the situations including recruiting females for the team! Thanks for watching and commenting and thank you for protecting your church and people!
Also, there is most likely someone with them who is recording everything they are doing for propaganda purposes. They usually hang back behind the disruptors. Have someone remove them first because when their recording ends, their disruption has lost its purpose.
My wife and were on the safety team at one of our church's and she is on stand by at our church, and I am one the team now
Great training as always. I noticed they came in costume and had a large poster board. Clue that things were not as they seem. Having security at the front door screening people might have prevented this from happening, but I don't know the full story or how they run their security. Will pass this on to my team. Thanks again.
Hey John, yes that is a great observation and my thoughts exactly why the lobby and screening is soo important! Thanks for another great comment!
We need more women involved with Church Security (specifically) & with Private Security (generally)💯.
Mr Puckett I’m glad to say that we have a seven person team at our church, and one of them is the wife of another team member. I’ve had our team AED and CPR certified.
Wow Eric! That sounds like a great team and you are prepared for the number one issue we face statistically at church, which is medical issues! Awesome!
Good breakdown. My church has many police that attend off duty. We also have some females on the safety team. Our safety team is mostly comprised of former/off duty LEO/Executive Protection Agents./Security Officers etc so ideally in a situation like this we are pretty well covered.
That is great for your church and people Carry! What an awesome line up of safety team members. Thank you for sharing!
@@ChurchSecurityAnswers Thank you for everything you do. I have personally learned a lot from your videos. Things I don’t think we all think of day to day. Your resources are invaluable to ministry safety.
@@carryeveryday910 Thank you very much! I am glad you are watching, learning, sharing and actively protecting your people and your church!
How can you be sent from God to preach and be protected but you need a security team to stop people from speaking what the books says?
I don’t think the security team should act in a protest. Call police , tell protesters to leave, press charges for criminal trespass. The ushers should take care of the protesters. The armed security team should be standing back and be ready if violence erupts.
Any, and I mean any, unexpected movement towards the altar, and therefore our Celebrant, is considered an aggressive incursion and a possible attack. We immediately position ourselves between the Priest and any protester and then lay hands on the disrupters, our force applied tempered by their reactions. They can leave under their own power, quietly, or not, but they will go.
But, a group such as this most likely will not make it inside our building. Our parking lot team will inform the entire building team that strangers behaving oddly are approaching. All entry doors are routinely locked 5 min before the service begins and late-comers must be admitted by the person manning that specific door. No person is allow to carry any unusual item into the building. Yes, winter presents an issue with coats being draped over an arm so we watch carefully. We are constantly on the watch for that that doesn't seem routine.
We have females on our security, usher and greeter teams. It is also against the law in Michigan to disrupt a religious service, so in my training seminars in my home state of Michigan I encourage folks to work as a team, have someone make contact and work on the de-escalation aspect while another colleague in on the phone to at least get the cops coming! The cops are hardly ever there fast enough, so at least get them coming! If the disrupters leave before the police arrive, and the trouble was often gone by the time I arrived on scene, great. But if they are still there when police arrive, hand it over to them to deal with the trespass issue. I tell folks that I rather have you cancel and disregard the police as they pull into the lot than call when things have gone really, really bad and the police have to make their way from the other side of the city, or town, or county, dealing with traffic to get to you!
Hey Gentle....thanks for watching and sharing!
What does the Bible have to say about some of this? Should a pastor explain that anyone may speak a word, if they believe something needs to be said, and then another may judge, and the one who first spoke is to remain silent while the other judges, and another one may judge the second word, but the one who had a word judged by another is not to speak back. ?
Wouldn't that avoid arguments? However, it would be upon the church itself to judge itself and some will do better at that than others. If you give a word and you believe it is of God and it is refused, maybe the best thing to do is leave. If it was of God, you did your part, didn't you?
Would that be right nor not?
We've been on high alert since the Roe V. Wade overturn because of this issue.
Thats awesome Keith! Sometimes it is hard to be on high alert when nothing generally happens.....but you have to be on alert right now and I am glad to hear it! Thanks for sharing.
@@ChurchSecurityAnswers Also, our team is fairly "young" (2 years-ish, formed after the Freeway Church Of Christ shootimg) and I'm recommending your channel for our continued training meetings. Thanks for the work you do.
@@keithcross7554 Hey Keith thanks for watching and commenting! Also thank you for protecting your people and your church!
I'm not sure I agree with getting our wives or other family member involved in something when you're not sure whats going on. Smart phones have cameras for a reason, and multiple people can film from various angles, and that should be witness enough. I think we have to get over this fear of women like they are untouchable.
Great idea thanks Brother.
Thanks for watching Ben and for leaving a comment!
LA cathedral
Powerful point...
What if they refuse to leave and are bent on disrupting the service?
At what point is the use of some sort of force okay?
Hey Victor, thanks for watching and commenting. At some point when someone refuses to leave, my opinion is you have to make a decision to remove them or ??? In this case, if they do in fact refuse to leave, we could push them out, pick them up and carry them out or I really like the idea of calling police at this point (if they won't leave, when you ask). No one is being hurt or being threatened with harm from the protestors. Why not turn this over to police who are trained to do this and can help to soften your liability in this case if someone were to get injured in the process or claim they were "injured" while they were being removed from your church. This is a touchy topic and I am hoping this generates a lot of conversations with security teams and church leaders.
That's a hate group
A hate group that says we should stop abortions?? Makes no sense
911 emergency services are rolling and "please cooperate and depart the premises. Law enforcement is called." Then push/usher them out by reasonable means. "Let me tell you about Jesus."
If you need to go hands on, hand on shoulder is a terrible idea. You need to utilize joint locks. If you can speak to them and get them to leave, even better. But again if you need to go hands on, don’t just touch their shoulder. Use joint locks. Can’t stress this enough.
Hey Kyle, some great suggestions especially for those that are able to regularly train and practice! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions.
I find it funny how christ and the disciples went chruch to chruch doing exactly what these guys want a security team to stop
I am the only female on our security team. We are aware there are situations where a female is an asset. We train just for such a situation as this.
That is awesome Patricia! I am glad your church has you working on the team! Thanks for watching and sharing.,
Females” Just say women. Yes we are females, but so are animals and plants (most plants are both). You guys may not use it as insult, but some men do. They will say men and females instead of men and women or males and females. I haven’t heard it in real life, but have came across it on the internet.
What if you wear a suite to church
Thats ok Russell.....you can still just wear a name tag lanyard to note that you are with the security team or guest services team. Easy to fit in with the rest of your church attendees and still do security, with a suit too!
Joe where did this one occur?
Hey Mike, this was in a downtown Los Angeles cathedral - here is one story about it. www.foxnews.com/us/handmaids-tale-protesters-disrupt-mass-in-la-cathedral
I will protest an apostate church that rebels against God and fly the rainbow FLAG. But we do it on the outside and call the apostate church to repentance.