Protecting God’s people - security for places of worship
If a violent incident were to take place in your church or a place of worship during a time when many of you are gathered, how quickly could you warn everyone that there was a threat inside the church?
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Churches and other places of worship naturally place great emphasis on creating an open and welcoming environment. Unfortunately, this can sometimes lead a church to neglect security and safety, which leaves them vulnerable to acts of vandalism or theft. A properly installed church video surveillance system can help to create a safe and secure environment for congregations and the people they serve.
The typical African is very religious and, in fact, would usually belong to one religious sect or the other and the occasional events within these places of worship have attracted important personalities, be they top politicians, business executives etc. These come with it a lot of dangers because most often, huge donations and pledges are made openly to the admiration of worshippers and among these worshippers could be people who are not really in the building to worship but in fact to spy on big donors within the facility and attack them later.
Some of these religious buildings have come under attack by criminal elements who come to rob the church of its musical instruments and cash donated by well-wishers. There have been instances where worshippers got up to join the singing and dancing and returned to find their valuables all gone. To deal with these situations, it is important for the ushers in these religious facilities to be trained in identifying the “could-be” criminal elements pretending to be worshippers. The church or religious facility must deploy high-tech Ghost CCTV Cameras within their car parks with the capability of reading car number plates even in the dark.
The President’s church incident
The Accra Circuit Court in July sentenced Charles Antwi, the man who took a double-barrelled shotgun to the Ring Road Assemblies of God Church where President John Dramani Mahama worships, to 10 years’ imprisonment. He pleaded guilty to possessing firearms without lawful authority even though the ruling was later set aside. This incident further exposed our lack of security consciousness as a people and nation. One would have thought that the single most important person in this country (the President of the Republic) only moved on schedule after the presidential security had given all clear for him to move. Fortunately it took a vigilant worshipper to report the abnormal behaviour of the suspect for his subsequent arrest.
The church leaders should have been educated by the state security setup or better still got a security expert to help secure the church, since it has high-profile personalities worshipping at that branch. Full body scanners detecting firearms, explosives etc. should have been installed the very first day he became a flag bearer of the NDC. Secondly, every worshipper at that branch where he worships should have been profiled the very moment he became the Vice-President and now President. Persons not known to the church or religious facility where the President worships should not be allowed in when the President comes to worship. Such persons should be disallowed or must only come to worship with the President with prior notice to the church and details of them sent to the State security responsible for protecting the President for screening and profiling. All these are done quietly without the knowledge of the general public.
The Ghana Police Service must put in place mechanisms to protect high-profile personalities such as flag bearers of political parties especially looking at Ghana’s tension-filled political campaigns, and this protection should not only be limited to political party rallies and gatherings but must also include places of worship for these important personalities including their immediate family members.
A visit to some selected churches and religious buildings has brought to the fore the need to protect their congregants. As a result, six critical areas for security and safety in today’s churches and religious facilities must include:
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Background checks
When someone joins the church as a member, leadership must not hesitate to do a background check.
Check-in system
A secure check-in system for children and events heads off many issues, especially with policies that ensure child-pick up occurs only with a matching tag. A good check-in system allows administrators to know exactly where every child is at any given time.
Aggressive friendliness
Training key people— often members of a security team—in de-escalation techniques aimed at gently confronting suspicious or hostile individuals in a non-threatening way.
Emergency action plan
There are many types of emergencies: medical issues, power outage, bomb threat, fire or intruders. Most churches/religious facilities wait for something to happen before they take action. It is critical to have a plan for different scenarios before something tragic happens.
Firefighting systems such as fire sprinklers and extinguishers should always be available.
Proper evacuation plans during emergency situations must also be preached weekly to worshippers and emergency exits and assembly points properly marked and made known to everyone.
Triage/Medical teams
By creating small volunteer teams of doctors, nurses and paramedics, every church can help with minor incidents and provide critical triage care prior to the arrival of paramedics, fire or police. It is advised that churches/religious facilities can be liable if something goes wrong, so it is important to have clearly defined policies in place.
Communications
Simple two-way radios are the most effective ways to share information and coordinate people during emergencies. They are better than cellphones that depend on coverage and up-to-date numbers. The emergency response teams should have a clear command structure, knowing who will be responsible for communicating with teams throughout the facility. In large churches, it is important to have specific “zones” identified so that each team knows the specific evacuation plans or, in certain situations, lockdown protocols to keep people safe.
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