The Parking Lot: The First Part of a Security Incident

The International Protective Security Board (IPSB) is an independent, nonprofit entity devoted to promoting the protection industry’s interests by focusing on protective security trends, best practices, and professional development.

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With its Latin motto of “Vigilate” (keep watch or stay alert), “Semper Discentes” (always learning), and “Et Honorem” (and honor), it encompasses all public-facing sectors requiring security attention, including faith-based organizations.

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Its semiannual publication is The Close Protection & Security Journal. Volume 2, Issue 1 includes the article, “The Parking Lot: The First Part of a Security Incident” (PDF) by Greg Williams and Brian Marren of Arcadia Cognerati, the principles of which can be applicable for church security teams.

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It begins, “Before a school shooter can start killing, before a bank robber can pass a note to a teller, and before someone can rob a gas station, they have to pass through a parking lot. In the parking lot, the element of time and distance between the perpetrator and their victim already exists. You need to learn to exploit it to yield opportunity.”

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Here are highlights from the article:

•  People tend to be lazy. The one place where they consistently and frequently mentally ‘check out’ is the parking lot surrounding a location open to the public. They pay less attention, take greater chances and adhere to rules and regulations less in a public parking lot.

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•  Folks in a hurry will park closer to the entrance and their vehicle may appear hastily parked. People in too much of a hurry may park illegally. Sometimes they’ll leave the car running. Someone may drop off their significant other to quickly run in and grab something while they, in turn, circle the lot, waiting for their partner to return.

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•  These observations underscore the importance of understanding the dynamics of people interacting with their environment. Each parking lot and every person using the parking lot add to the granularity and allow us to create a fidelity-filled baseline for ‘normalcy’ within that environment. Extracting normalcy allows the operator to recognize incongruent signals faster.

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•  A problem exists because those persons that would do harm unintentionally mimic those folks who are situationally unaware. For example, someone conducting surveillance or waiting for an armed robbery crew within a convenience store might be sitting in their vehicle with the engine running, observing the front entrance, much like a mom waiting for her daughter who’s inside the store picking up their prescription.

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•  Because the parking lot can be used both literally and metaphorically as the physical manifestation of “The Gift of Time and Distance,” these eventualities must be added to realistic training scenarios.

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•  Recognizing patterns allows us to predict what’s likely to happen or occur next.

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•  The “Rule of Thumb”: extend your arm to arms’ length; hold your fist with your thumb pointing up; cover a specific person or vehicle with your thumb; if you still see the specific object, you’re too close and need to move back. The closer you are to danger, the less time you have to make an informed decision. This gives you the technical and tactical edge in most encounters.

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•  The life of a first responder or security expert is typified by periods of sheer boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror. These are also the specific times that people are most vulnerable. Training for the real event needs to incorporate both ‘on the X’ training (fighting to get off the X) and a liberal dose of training for the less invigorating times. When we sit and wait. When we sit and watch.

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•  Deliberate attacks are fast and furious. In an active shooter event, most victims are shot within the first 3 minutes and most attacks are over in less than 5 minutes. This means that you may have the ability to defeat or disrupt the attacker’s plan merely by including intentional scrutiny on the parking lot closest to your event or client.

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•  Simply paying more attention to the parking lot is as easy as it is essential. Observing those final moments of parking lot preparation by a perpetrator just prior to a violent attack can be crucial

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•  Training for communications, enhanced optics and observation and surveillance / counter surveillance is essential. Planning is essential. Adding the parking lot as a Named Area of Interest in each of these training preparations will vastly increase the likelihood that you or your team will discover the final preparations of a determined opponent preparing to launch their attack.

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•  You can rehearse these tactics today. Begin by paying special attention to the parking lot nearest where you live, work, dine or shop. See how many instances of interesting behavior you can detect.

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Another article that focuses on parking lot security for churches is Shots Fired at Anchor Baptist Church: What Happened and What Churches Must Learn on ChristianWarriorTraining.com.

Also See These SemperVerus Articles

•   Why 21 Feet Is Not a ‘Safe’ Distance

•   Protect Yourself from a Carjacking

•   Self-Defense and Church Security Lessons by John Correia Reviewing an Attempted Carjacking

•   Active Self Protection Self-Defense Checklists and Acronyms

•   Self-Defense Tactical Driving Tips

•   Situational Awareness: 14 Ways to Walk Like You Drive

•   Principles of Defensive Driving from the Michigan State Police

•   Defending Yourself Against Mobs and Riots

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