situational awareness Archives - Page 7 of 21

Interview With Cody Blocker, Certified Protection Specialist

SemperVerus interviewed Cody Blocker, Certified Protection Specialist, founding member and past president of the Midwest Church Security Coalition, author of Protecting Your Church: Thoughts on Church Security and Leadership, and founder of Safety Systems Group self-defense training company.

[ Bookmark the SemperVerus CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

Please describe Safety Systems Group.
Safety Systems Group is my consulting and training company that focuses on church security. I teach volunteer church security teams all the “hard skills” like defensive tactics and handguns, but I specialize in training volunteer teams in the “soft skills” of awareness, threat assessment, behavior recognition, and verbal de-escalation.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Gentle Response De-Escalation Training for Church Security Teams ]

Why have you included the topic of church security in the training you provide?
Security falls under the umbrella of stewardship. We need to protect what God has entrusted to us. I started as the director of security for a large church in the Midwest and saw the need. I have a passion for the kingdom, and I don’t like churches being seen as soft targets. I believe each church needs to have a strong stewardship value and protect itself.

Analyzing Active Threat Response Models: A Comparative Study

Founded in 2002 with principles strongly guided by the Christian faith, Strategos International comprises a team of over 500 contracted security specialists who provide reality-based training, consulting, and protection services across the globe for businesses, military, law enforcement, health care, schools, insurance companies, and churches.

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Its article, Analyzing Active Threat Response Models: A Comparative Study, summarizes various recommendations of how to act in the event of an active killer situation.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A List of Active Killer Incidents at Houses of Worship and Religious Schools ]

Strategos describes its white paper as “an in-depth comparative analysis of active threat response models, focusing on the RUN, HIDE, FIGHT methodology, the A.L.I.C.E. response model, the A.D.D. (Avoid, Deny, Defend) approach, and the Strategos 3-OUT (Lock Out, Get Out, Take Out) Response Model. The objective analysis—grounded in research and real-world outcomes—evaluates each model’s effectiveness, flexibility, and applicability across varied situations. Key findings highlight differences in approach, training requirements, and situational responsiveness, underscoring the need for adaptable, comprehensive strategies to enhance safety and preparedness.”

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

The models examined are:

Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship Security Guide

Terrorists, criminals, anarchists, and disrupters are attacking houses of worship (HoW). They assume HoW are soft targets; gun-free zones where media coverage and notoriety can be easily achieved through defenseless active killing.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A List of Active Killer Incidents at Houses of Worship and Religious Schools ]

In response, more HoW are establishing and training their own armed volunteer security teams.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Enroll in the Sheepdog Church Security Academy Safety Member Certification Program ]

One resource for these teams is the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)‘s 116-page PDF, Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship Security Guide.

A List of Active Killer Incidents at Houses of Worship and Religious Schools

Photo credit: David von Diemar, https://unsplash.com/@davidvondiemar Some people in leadership at churches still question why it’s necessary to have an armed and trained church security/safety team as part of their dedicated ministry efforts.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Active Killer Advice Compendium ]

The following list should be reason enough:

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• Undisclosed church, Venice, Florida, Aug. 11, 2026
A 19-year-old male, with a grievance against a local church, was planning to take hostages during an active killing at the facility. He was arrested and charged with making written threats to kill, threats to bomb or conduct a mass shooting, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Checklist: Questions to Ask During a Bomb Threat Call ]

• St. John’s Lutheran Church, Effingham, Illinois, July 5, 2026
Sunday morning before the worship service, a 36-year-old man from St. Charles, Missouri, entered the church and asked to speak with the pastor. Church security personnel called police to communicate their suspicions about the man and his vehicle in the church parking lot. Law enforcement responded and discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen. During the struggle, when police attempted to restrain the man, he produced a firearm, which discharged, and he was struck. He died the next day.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Prepare for Teams of Terrorists, Says Gabe Suarez ]

• Wesley Memorial Church, High Point, North Carolina, June 28, 2026
An armed 44-year-old man wearing camouflage clothing and body armor sat in his truck in the parking lot during the morning service. An observant person called 911, and an off-duty officer working at the church immediately responded to the parking lot. Additional officers arrived, disarmed the man, and took him into custody without incident. Upon searching his truck, officers found 2 flamethrowers, 2 crossbows, 3 knives, 500+ rounds of ammunition, a CO2-powered launcher, designed to resemble a handgun, rolls of black duct tape, oxycodone pills, and a notebook containing the addresses of churches, schools, and public buildings. The man, who authorities say has experience with bombs, also had two radios with police scanners, GPS coordinates, handcuffs and keys, and a copy of the North Carolina Tactical Interoperability Guide marked public safety sensitive.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Interview With Active Shooter Incident Expert, Lt. Col. Ed Monk ]

• Islamic Center of San Diego, San Diego, California, May 18, 2026
Just before noon on the first day of Dhul Hijjah, a sacred period in the Islamic year, two males, 17 and 18 years old, wearing camouflage clothing, fatally shot a security guard and two staff members outside the largest mosque in San Diego, which includes a pre-K through 3rd-grade Islamic school. Both killers were found in a car a few blocks away, dead from self-inflicted gunshots.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Interview With Police Trainer, Ron Borsch, on Church Security Teams Stopping Active Killer Incidents ]

• Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, Houston, Texas, Apr. 23, 2026
A juvenile and an 18-year-old female were arrested in Lexington, North Carolina, after allegedly planning a mass casualty attack on a Jewish day school in Houston, Texas. Court documents show that the conspiracy the female was allegedly planning was to “kill as many Jews as possible by driving through a congregation at a synagogue.”

Counterterrorism Guide: Situational Awareness to Hinder An Attack

The Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team (JCAT) is a US interagency collaboration based at the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), which is aligned under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

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Working with intelligence analysts from NCTC, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), JCAT’s primary mission is to improve counterterrorism information sharing between federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government agencies and the private sector. The latter is where that information is adaptable for personal self-defense and church security teams in being situationally aware to pre-indicators of criminal and terroristic attacks.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of SITUATIONAL AWARENESS ]

One resource is JCAT’s Counterterrorism Guide For Public Safety Personnel, offering content to assist self-defenders and church safety volunteers in: