Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 27 June 2023

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against, and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.

Church in Turtle Creek increases security after burglars steal $12,000 worth of items

A Pennsylvania church lost $12,000 worth of equipment used to run its operations. It also suffered $3,000 in damages. Four or five other churches have been broken into in the area.

Analyst Comment:

Burglaries can severely hamper a Faith-Based Organization’s (FBO’s) worship services and programs. Burglaries are not only a problem in this community, they continue to pose a problem across the country. Further, burglars can do additional damage to a house of worship with vandalism or arson.  The Douglas County Sentinel reported that a man was recently arrested for burglarizing and vandalizing a Georgia church years earlier. NBC Bay Area news reported yesterday that a California church was burglarized and a bible and crucifix were burned.

Analyst Comment:

Connecting with local law enforcement to obtain crime data and threat intelligence data can help an FBO prepare for all threats to include burglaries. Local law enforcement can also do an inspection of your facilities and make recommendations for making them more secure. The Secure Community Network provides a valuable resource, their Low-Cost/No-Cost Safety and Security Measures.

Risk considerations for churches opening their doors for sanctuary

Eric Spacek, Assistant Vice President — Risk Control with Church Mutual, answers a few of the most commonly asked questions about the potential risk of opening up your building to immigrants.

The article covers:

• Will our church face legal action for harboring undocumented immigrants?
• Do we need a special kind of insurance to provide housing for people at our facility?
• Besides legal concerns, what are some of the other risks associated with having people stay in our church building?
• Are there local codes or regulations that apply if people stay at our church for an undetermined amount of time?
• What kinds of written guidelines should we have in place?

Analyst Comment: Faith-Based Organizations considering providing sanctuary should consider reviewing their security plans and making adjustments to those plans if needed. Exercises designed to test the plans could reveal some gaps that might necessitate further revisions of the plans.