Articles with situational awareness

Gentle Response De-Escalation Training for Church Security Teams

Gentle Response is the organization founded by John Riley, a retired police officer and certified crisis intervention specialist with the National Anger Management Association. He and his team travel all over the United States conducting Conflict De-escalation Training seminars.

SemperVerus attended this excellent seminar, held in Immanuel Church, Holland, Michigan, May 14, 2023. With Mr. Riley’s permission, here are notes we took during that seminar and scenario training:

•   “A gentle response defuses anger” Proverbs 15:1 (MSG)

•   Conflict de-escalation: lowering the intensity of an agitated person to minimize a potentially volatile situation from becoming a critical violent incident.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Prayer for Church Security Team Members ]

•   Peacemaking and de-escalating people’s anger is the goal, while staying alert to your own personal and public safety. When overwhelmed, stay safe and be an expert witness.

•   Mindset Priority: Each church security team member must have a “ministry mindset” — Every contact (even eye contact) is a ministry opportunity to represent the mission of the church. Don’t let your actions be heavy-handed and damage that mission.

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Video: The Role of Armed Citizens in Active Violence Incidents

The complex topic of armed citizens in active violence incidents is discussed in the video below by a panel of law enforcement and emergency response experts on the vodcast YouTube Channel of the National Center for Integrated Emergency Response (NCIER).

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Concealed Carry Daily Prayer ]

The video discussion includes:
    •  Potential benefits and risks of armed citizen intervention
    •  The critical importance of proper training and ongoing skill maintenance
    •  Legal and ethical considerations for carrying and using firearms
    •  Proper interaction with law enforcement in post-incident scenarios

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The 5 Lines of Defense in Church Security, Beginning Outside

You’ve seen the headlines:

• “FBI Warns of Terror Threats to Churches, Synagogues”
• “Idaho Teen Accused of Planning Church Attacks in Loyalty to Islamic State”
• “Churches Urged to Be Vigilant Against Increasing Threats”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Chart: The Spectrum of Potential Threat Personas in Self-Defense and Church Security ]

Here are practical suggestions to harden your church building and sharpen your defensive practices to keep your congregants and facilities safe from criminal and terrorist attacks:

•  Erect bollards and/or reinforced concrete planters parallel to the entire church building’s exterior that is most vulnerable to vehicle attacks (e.g., doors, glass windows and walls, etc.).

•  Affix security film on all first-floor windows and glass walls, reinforcing them to resist criminal breakage.

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Significant Six EDC for Self-Defense in Terrorist Times

We live in dangerous times. Not only do we need to protect ourselves from civilian criminals who want to rob us and run, we need to be ready to defend ourselves from trained enemy combatants living among us who are bent on nothing less than killing as many people as possible.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Chart: The Spectrum of Potential Threat Personas in Self-Defense and Church Security ]

They weaponize anything to accomplish their objective, from fashioning everyday items into shrapnel-infested bombs, to renting cars, vans, and trucks with the goal of viciously mowing down pedestrians, whether in broad daylight or during night-time celebrations.

[ Read articles in the SemperVerus category of SITUATIONAL AWARENESS ]

With that in mind, we should reconsider what our basic Every Day Carry (EDC) items should consist of to properly be prepared for possible violent threats as we go about our daily activity. SemperVerus suggests these Significant Six categories as fundamental to bear in mind:

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