If you are becoming concerned about the safety of your South Jersey church or synagogue, reach out to Blackstone Security today and request a church security assessment. Blackstone Security Group, LLC, can help you identify weaknesses and greatly improve your security and help greatly reduce the risk.
Dave Ollivier, Owner and President of BSG, has spent numerous years serving on one of the largest most productive school boards in the South Jersey region, and he has extensive knowledge in security services and security camera systems.
Given the number of school and church shootings over the past ten years, it is clear that violence can happen anywhere, even at your church. Unfortunately, no amount of planning can stop someone from wanting to harm others, but having a prevention and response plan in place can make your place of worship a more difficult target and can reduce the harm if violence occurs.
Let the experienced team of law enforcement and security professionals at BSG train your in-house security team, and/or provide you with plainclothes or uniformed armed security personnel to work closely with your staff.
BSG’s Emergency Preparedness Assessments will help:
- Reduce potential liability risks
- Reduce crime, violence, and disruptive behavior risks
- Improve community relations on safety issues
- Identify specific strategies to make your church/synagogue better prepared and more secure for attendees and staff
Our safety and security programming efforts are designed to be consistent with the risks inherent to each location’s environment and with your church’s mission.
The key to a successful safety and security programming is a viable technology infrastructure, the development and implementation of an appropriate philosophy and policies, the support of key administrators, and the empowerment of professionally trained, properly equipped personnel.
To Dave and his Team, Thanks so much for providing a top-notch armed security detail for the special events we had at our facility last week. Your team was fantastic and worked well with our existing voluntary security people. After the event, many church members came to my office to express their appreciation for the extra layer of armed protection you and your team of professionals provided. Job well done! I have already recommended your services to other Pastor’s in the area. Take care.
– PASTOR KEVIN S. 8-21-21 SWEDESBORO, NJ CHURCH SECURITY
What Is A “Church Security And Emergency Preparedness Assessment”?
Our security and emergency preparedness assessments provide your church leaders with an independent appraisal of safety measures already in place, and recommendations for enhancing those measures with improvements at the building and district levels.
South Jersey church and synagogue leaders use BSG’s security and preparedness assessments as:
- Community relations tool to demonstrate commitment to security prior to a crisis
- Documentation of district needs in advance of a levy campaign, or as part of a grant proposal
- A risk management tool for reducing crime and violence threats, risks, and potential liability while strengthening emergency preparedness
BSG’s church security and preparedness assessments are district-specific to address your unique concerns. They are designed to help those involved be proactive, not reactive, with regards to safety. We believe it is important for BSG’s assessments to reflect both the positive safety measures already in place, as well as the areas for continued planning and improvement.
It’s likely that we are going to find multiple weaknesses in your current security plan. Please understand that it’s not personal. Our final assessment reports are designed to be used as a strategic planning tool — not an attack on worship center management and/or credibility by exposing weaknesses. Remember – WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM!
If your South Jersey church or synagogue is in need of armed security officers, plain clothes security officers or an assessment of your current security program, please contact us immediately so together we can formulate a plan to keep your staff and parishioners safe.
CALL US TODAY so we can get to work for you.
Elements of A Church Security And Emergency Preparedness Assessment Evaluation
Areas reviewed by BSG and/or our affiliates in our church/synagogue security assessments can include:
- Personnel and internal security
- Emergency and crisis preparedness planning
- Linking of security with prevention and intervention services
- Security, crime and violence prevention policies and procedures
- Security police staffing and operational practices
- Professional development training related to safety and emergency planning
- Community collaboration and partnerships with public safety agencies
- Communications and social media strategy, crisis communications, and community building techniques
- Physical security measures, including access control, communications, intrusion detection systems, perimeter security, after hours security, physical design, and many related areas.
- Examination of support service roles in safety and security, including facilities operations, food services, transportation, physical and mental health services, technology services, and associated departments.
Synagogue and Church Security Methods We Use
BSG’s church-specific security and emergency preparedness experience has allowed us to create a structured, specialized assessment process, which can include:
- Crime and discipline data review
- Examination of physical facilities and grounds, security measures and related issues
- Examination and problem-solving of safety concerns unique to a given district
- Review of crisis and other communications mechanisms, social media strategy, and related areas
- Analysis of policies, procedures, emergency and crisis guidelines, and other safety-related documents
- Surveys and structured interviews with staff, first responders and community members
- Analysis of related news, crime, and other information from public sources that may indicate how the community views the houses of worship in the area
To save your organization time and money, we provide a pre – assessment checklist of documents and data we would like to review, to help us identify specific information for analysis before we arrive on-site. As consultants who have first-hand experience, we are flexible and will make every effort to avoid disrupting the process while working with our clients.
The number of evaluators in our security assessments can range from a two-person consultant team to multiple teams of evaluators, depending on the size of your district and nature of the assessment. We will discuss this in advance with your district’s representatives.
Each lead evaluator/consultant has over 20 years of full-time experience in the field and every project is led by our Owner/President, David Ollivier. On-site assessments may also be linked with our training programs, including firearms training.
Communications And Social Media Evaluation
BSG can work with your administrators and staff to review your communications policies and protocols, identify ways to coordinate messaging with partner agencies, and share the latest strategies, from traditional to digital media.
Our expertise comes from extensive news reporting and newsroom management at media companies across the nation. Our work connects us to your challenges: from dealing with violence to building support for a levy campaign. We can give you skills to take control of this critical aspect of managing security and operating a place of worship.
Our Final Church Security Assessment Consultation Report
Our findings and recommendations are submitted in a final written report to church officials. BSG focuses our reports to reflect both the positive safety measures already in place at the time of the evaluation, as well as areas for continued planning and improvement.
The final assessment report can be used as:
- An independent source of professional information to create realistic activities and measurable goals, both for short-term security and emergency preparedness improvements and long-term strategic plans. Our safety assessments provide detailed recommendations.
- Part of an overall program evaluation to periodically measure progress and make revisions in established security and preparedness programs.
- A concrete public relations tool for demonstrating a commitment to having a thorough, external, and professional assessment of security and emergency preparedness, as part of an overall prevention, intervention, and safety program.
- Evidence of having conducted a professional needs assessment that can be used to meet federal and state grant proposal requirements for safety and emergency planning funds, as we all identification of specific local needs for future district funding plans.
Once your district is aware of your existing safety measures in place, where they are strong and where they can be improved, we can work together to form a plan that greatly increases the security of your parishioners and everyone in your church or synagogue.
Safety of your church or synagogue is far too important to take lightly…reach out to BSG today to get started on your synagogue and church security assessment.
