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By Wayne Thompson
Commending Triad for its leadership and community
contributions, Kernersville Police Chief Neal Stockton is helping the
church further improve its incident and disaster response.
The first of a series of three security awareness videos that
Stockton taped for Triad will air June 21 — among several
security-related enhancements that include:
- Buying eight two-way radios
- Adding more parking lot attendants to patrol parking lots and other parts of the campus outdoors
- Adding more ushers to walk the hallways during and between services
- Monitoring storm activity through a weather radar link in the sanctuary sound booth
- Evacuation training and drills for church members for fires, tornadoes and other disasters
The effort is being led by Don Beck, the deacon who oversees
security-related aspects of outreach. His eight-person team includes
Tim Shoaf, Don Smith, Dennis Roberts, Boyd Watts, Michael
Interlandi, Charles McPeak and Jeremy Pritchard — men with
combined years of military, fire, police, school, facilities and
other relevant experience. Members of the team have also
attended church safety seminars, and the team has drawn on safety
and security plans at Piedmont Baptist College and the Child
Enrichment Center and Triad Baptist Christian Academy and other
resources.
Beck said that training would begin once there are enough new ushers and
parking lot attendants to provide the necessary manpower. He
encouraged those
interested to contact Earl Hancock (parking) and Richard Johnston
(ushers) to volunteer. Both groups will use the new radios to alert each other of any
suspicious activity.
In the video series, Stockton said the biggest security risks to churches are people breaking into cars and stealing valuables, lone gunmen or groups taking advantage of the open nature of church worship or child abductions involving domestic disputes between parents.
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The efforts to enhance security and preparedness began when Don Smith called Rob Decker, Triad's pastor, after several highly-publicized crimes at churches — from demonstrators in San Francisco that entered a sanctuary and disrupted a service in progress to the March 9 shooting at First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill., which killed the pastor and injured two members.
Even before the shooting, the church had taken several steps to boost security, including cameras, locks and an intercom at the main church office entrance.
Triad has not had any major security issues but did have a situation last winter when an usher spotted a man running from Wal-Mart toward the church and hiding under a car on a Wednesday night. He had shoplifted several items from the store. The usher promptly notified police who surrounded the car and arrested the man before he could enter the building. Over the years, the church also has had times when disorderly people entered the building.
"Rob e-mailed me and asked me to put a team together and start to put ideas together for how we could further enhance our security and response to fires, storms and other situations," Beck said. "Our approach is more of an 'eyes and ears' approach versus visible, armed security — patrols in parking lots seeing something and then using the radios to notify the ushers inside who then lock the building and take the necessary precautions, including calling 911 if there is an issue. We want to stop them from entering a building.
"Our biggest fear is a domestic, custody issue that spills over and involves the church," he said. "If we get enough volunteers for the patrols, we are hoping to put those into place this summer and also begin the training. But the pace will depend on the manpower."
While the team is still fine tuning the plans, Beck said that
the new fire evacuation plan would include a designated exit and
gathering place for parents where workers in the nursery, for
example, would take children instead of parents all rushing to the
nursery to get them at the same time and creating a dangerous
bottleneck.
For the same reason, the plan would call for members to remain in
these safe areas instead of going to their cars and trying to
leave the campus at once — blocking fire trucks and other
vehicles arriving on scene.
Beck said that the team also is examining the best way for the new patrols to communicate with Triad's First Response Safety Team which responds to medical emergencies and carries cell phones with designated numbers. The church's medical emergency plan calls for dialing 911 first and then the on-call volunteer on the cell phones at either 337-7737 or 402-6157.
In the videos, Stockton told members to lock up valuables in the trunks of their cars and not leave them in plain sight for "snatch and grab" thieves and to always be alert.
"You have got to keep your eyes and ears open at all times," he said. "That way, you can watch the movement of people and their activities. Know your surroundings, know the environment, know your members and get to know them even better" so you will notice suspicious activity.
If you do see a strange person or car, Stockton said to notify the church patrols immediately along with a description of the person, the make and model of their car and license number.
"The planning you are doing today (to enhance safety and security) will help reduce the risk of incidents," he said.
Editor's note: more detailed articles about security, fire and natural disaster plans will follow on Connections in the months ahead.