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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.

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

2025 Edition of Hostility Against Churches Report Shows 415 US Attacks in 2024

Family Research Council (FRC) has released the newest edition of its report, Hostility Against Churches in the United States: Analyzing Incidents from 2024, which records 415 hostile incidents across 383 churches, including vandalism (284), arson (55), bomb threats (14), armed aggression (28, which is more than double the number (12) identified in 2023), and other crimes (47).

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Church Security Book Review: Defending the Flock ]

“Religious freedom is seldom handed to the passive,” says Tony Perkins, president, FRC. “It’s claimed by those who exercise it even when a hostile culture says they may not. This report clearly shows religious freedom faces substantial threats here at home.”

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Notable findings in this edition include the following:

LaSorsa & Associates Executive Protection Incidents Report

LaSorsa & Associates is a global source for security consulting, private investigations, technical surveillance counter-measures, and executive protection services and training. Its primary focus is on business and political security, but it also offers training for church security teams.

[ Use the SemperVerus reference site, CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

The LaSorsa & Associates Executive Protection Incidents Report (Jan.–Jun. 2025) provides a comprehensive overview of publicly documented security incidents, drawn from open-source information, impacting high-profile individuals in the first half of 2025.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Church Security Training: Decision Decks Help You Think Through a Crisis Before It Happens ]

Church security teams can apply implications from the analysis to sharpen your threat awareness and planning as you conduct Executive Protection (EP) practices for church leaders and congregations.

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

Key Takeaways:

US Secret Service Threat Assessment Church Case Study Links Domestic Violence with Mass Attacks

The US Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) has published, First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs: A Case Study on the Link Between Domestic Violence and Mass Attacks.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Criminals and Terrorists Overwhelmingly Select Gun-Free Zones For Mass Attacks in Public Spaces ]

The 40-page report examines the background and behavioral history of the gunman who killed 26 people, including his wife’s grandmother, and wounded an additional 22 others in the attack at the church in Texas on November 5, 2017.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Church Shooting Analysis Reports ]

The attacker had a long history of domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual violence perpetrated against friends, family members, and others.