Sacred and Secure

How to maintain openness and accessibility, and offer security and safety

• By Padma Duvvuri
• Aug 02, 2021

When people think of
a House of Worship
(HoW) what may
first come to mind
is a solemn sanctuary
of welcome and refuge. Churches,
mosques, synagogues, temples and other
places of worship are built on the premise
of openness and accessibility, peace and
community.

As crime and targeted violence increases
in almost every other aspect of
life, Houses of Worship have unfortunately
not been spared. According to the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security
Agency (CISA), there has been a “discernible
increase in the number of [targeted
violence] incidents between 2015 and
2019” at houses of worship. Of these attacks,
“54%… were an armed assault of
some kind, including shootings, edged
weapons and vehicular assaults.”1 In 2019
alone, HoW’s experienced extreme attacks
world-wide:

• March 2019: Australian man opened fire
  on worshipers in two mosques in Christchurch,
  New Zealand, killing 50 people
• April 2019: Poway, California, synagogue
  shooting results in 1 death and 3 injuries
• April 2019: Easter Sunday explosions in
  churches and hotels in Sri Lanka kill more
  than 250 people, including 45 children

In protecting HoW’s, security professionals
and congregants face a unique dilemma:
how to maintain openness and accessibility
while still ensuring security and
safety. While the targeted violent attacks
on Houses of Worship are what make the
news, they face a range of incidents from
loitering, graffiti, and vandalism, all the
way to life-threatening violence.

To help address these security concerns
a variety of checklists are available, many
of which provide a holistic approach to
addressing security threats. The general
recommendations are:

• Clearly identify roles and responsibilities
  and create a designated security committee
• Conduct a security audit to identify risks
  and vulnerabilities
• Create a security plan which includes
  proactive physical security, to include
  video surveillance, access controls and
  weapons screening.
• Since more HoW’s are offering virtual
  services, implement cybersecurity protocols
  alongside physical security protocols
• Create an emergency crisis plan which
  includes procedures on connecting with
  local law enforcement and immediate
  safety measures should an attack occur

This article originally appeared in the July / August 2021 issue of Security Today.