Churches take in a large number of donations from their members for various religious and humanitarian causes. The followers of a church, expect the administration to manage and utilize these funds appropriately. This is why churches need to employ specialized security practices to protect these resources from theft. Church insurance companies of Ohio, work closely with church administrators to keep their valuable belongings safe. Even with alternative options that are now available to churches through technology, many older church members prefer to give offering through traditional means.  Here are some highly recommended security practices that all churches can benefit from.

1. Take the Help of Off-Duty Officers

In many states, law enforcement officers can offer voluntary services after their work shifts. Churches and other nonprofit organizations can seek out these individuals and enhance the in-house security practices with their help. Church property insurance agents advise their clients to hire these individuals because of their skillset and specialized training background.  In addition to seeking outside help from off-duty police officers, your church may have members with a military and law enforcement background that you can utilize at no cost. Talk with your church members and find out which of these two options could work best.

2. Rotation System

If you have limited human resources for security purposes, you can keep your security team on a rotation and to ensure you can manage all matters swiftly. It will reduce the burden on the individual volunteers and make security management easier for the church administration.  It is important to institute a security practice that is comparable to your church members experience.  Effective security practices will take into consideration the number of members a church has to implement the needed security.

3. Symbols for Notification

Church security staff want to foster a secure environment for the worshippers without making it obvious. They want to improve surveillance of the audience and the visitors without alerting anyone. Implementing effective security practices at your church, requires the leadership team to surround themselves with security experts.  For this purpose, church administration and security individuals should communicate through discreet gestures and symbols. This way, when unusual activity is detected on the premises, they can communicate with security personnel without attracting the attention of the worshippers.  As most people now have cell phones, setting up a group church text message could be your best option for silently notifying the appropriate security team.

4. Improve Reception Security

A receptionist can serve as your first and most valuable line of defense as part of your effective security practices at church, in the case of a security breach. Hire trained staff for the receptionist position, that knows how to detect danger and is able to alert the administration ahead of it. Church insurance providers recommend thorough scrutiny of all staff before hiring, so liability issues can be avoided in the future.  Installing a centrally monitored panic alarm or centralized telephone system could be good cost effective measures your church could implement.

5. Check-In System for Children

By using a tagging and check-in system for child attendees, you can keep them safer. Keep a record of each child on premises, so you can monitor their activity.  Have a picture of the child and a picture of their parents next to the child.  This can help eliminate the possibility of releasing a child to an unauthorized individual.  While there is no foolproof security practices system, it is important churches explore all options and come up with a solution to protect their kids.

For more church security practices recommendations, visit the Integrity Now Insurance blog page and make your organization safe for visitors of all ages. Our team can help your church manage financial matters more efficiently and increase the engagement of community members. The owner is a US Military Veteran and served as a law enforcement officer in the Air Force.  We are here to help review your insurance coverages to ensure you have all of the needed coverages.  Having enough church liability insurance in place is important for all organizations.  Our church insurance brokers will provide a no cost review of your church insurance and provide you with our expert opinion.  Click here to learn more about our church building insurance policies.