Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 20 September 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.

Protecting Houses of Worship: Perimeter Security Considerations (cisa.gov)

This just released resource is a companion piece to CISA’s and the FBI’s co-branded Protecting Places of Worship: Six Steps to Enhance Security Against Targeted Violence. This infographic outlines low- to no-cost solutions to help implement these suggested practices and highlights ways to identify funding for security improvements. To learn more about layered security and other recommended mitigations, visit CISA’s Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship Security Guide.

This resource details protecting the Inner Perimeter, Middle Perimeter, and Outer Perimeter.  The second page provides more security information and many links to additional resources.

Analysts Comments:

This CISA product is a great resource for Faith-Based Organizations (FBO). The outer perimeter is often missed when protecting a facility. Stopping a threat before it reaches worshipers can save lives. Following these security considerations for all three perimeters will greatly increase the safety of FBOs.

FBOs should consider using this resource, in combination with the Security Planning Workbook below, the Protecting Places of Worship: Six Steps to Enhance Security Against Targeted Violence, and the Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship Security Guide.

To help fund protection measures, the Protecting Houses of Worship: Perimeter Security Considerations also provides the following grant resources.

• DHS Grants: https://www.dhs.gov/dhs-grants
• Nonprofit Security Grant Program: https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/nonprofit-security
• School Safety Grants Finder Tool: https://www.schoolsafety.gov/grants-finder-tool
• Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program: https://www.dhs.gov/tvtpgrants

Security Planning Workbook

CISA also released a 46-page workbook for security planning.

The Security Planning Workbook is a comprehensive resource that can assist critical infrastructure owners and operators with the development of a foundational security plan. This workbook is designed to be flexible and scalable to suit the needs of most facilities. It is intended for individuals involved with an organization’s security planning efforts, including individuals or groups with varying degrees of security expertise, charged with the safety and security of facilities and people. This product also provides descriptions of critical elements of security planning information, offers a multitude of resources, and includes fillable fields to guide a stakeholder’s planning efforts.