Disasters and Faith-Based Organizations

Here’s what it costs to put your synagogue under armed guard

What Experts Know about Active Shooter Situation.

From The Conversation: How safe is your place of worship? Some findings:

Crimes, most commonly vandalism and theft, were committed at about 40 percent of congregations in the year prior to the survey. This overall percentage was not significantly different across religious traditions.

When we dug deeper, though, we found that synagogues and mosques deal with crime-related problems that are much different than the average church.

According to news reports, the Tree of Life synagogue did not have armed guards present at the time of the shooting. Many community leaders rebuked Trump’s statements and argued that increasing armed security was not the solution.

In 2015 we conducted a national study of religious congregations’ experiences with, fears of and preparations for crime. Our study, which was supported by the National Science Foundation, featured a survey of over 1,300 places of worship and in-depth interviews with more than 50 congregational leaders. We asked each leader – individuals with significant knowledge of the congregation’s operations – about the congregation’s history of crime, its security measures, the individual’s assessment of future crime risk and fears, and a variety of questions about the congregation’s operations and neighborhood.

… our in-depth interviews with leaders of congregations found that synagogues and mosques tend to put a great deal of thought into security. For synagogues in particular, our interviews found that local organizations are effective at sharing information and resources about security threats and strategies – for example, the Jewish Community Relations Councils.

Crimes, most commonly vandalism and theft, were committed at about 40 percent of congregations in the year prior to the survey. This overall percentage was not significantly different across religious traditions.

When we dug deeper, though, we found that synagogues and mosques deal with crime-related problems that are much different than the average church.
Our survey found, for instance, that synagogues and mosques were three times more likely than congregations overall to have received an explicit threat in the prior year.  Respondents also reported significantly greater fear that congregants would be assaulted or murdered on the congregation’s property. This helps explain another pattern we found: Jewish and Muslim congregations are in many ways far ahead of congregations representing other religious traditions when it comes to thinking about and implementing security measure

Today another horrible shooting, this time at a a synagogue in Pittsburgh. There are many resources lists on this site.  Here are some organizations that have a lot of resources to offer:

• New York Disaster Interfaiths Network
• Jewish Community Relations Council of NY
• Dept. of Justice. Safeguarding Houses of Worship
• Dept. of Homeland Security. Mass Gatherings: Security Awareness for Soft Targets and Crowded Places.

Churches Provide Spiritual Refuge and Shelter From the Storm

In the current issue of Disaster Recovery Journal (subscriptions are free), see these two articles:

• Before, During and After: A Guide to Building a Resilient Disaster Recovery Plan
• Leveraging Business Continuity Concepts for Houses of Worship

From DHS, this new guidance on Security Awareness for Mass Gatherings.

FEMA and the National Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster help at FEMA Partnership Day at FEMA HQ on July 25.  There were several sessions and some new handouts provided there. I will post more details as they become available about products shared.

One excellent resource is the 33-page document titled Safeguarding Houses of Worship. It was done by the National Institutes of Justice.

New FEMA Document (33pp.) Engaging Faith-Based and Community Organizations. June 2018.

From the National Fire Protection Association, this free NFPA 3000™ Readiness Assessment for Active Shooter/Hostile Event Preparedness.

The NFPA sets the standards for many aspects of fire and emergency management for localities.  While there is a charge for many of their products, the assessment noted here is free.