FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sept. 2, 2009

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MEDIA ADVISORY

A Decade after Wedgwood Baptist Carnage,

Most Churches Still Unprepared

Founder of Christian Security Network Available for Interviews and Analysis

CINCINATTI, Ohio – On Sept. 15, 1999, Larry Gene Ashbrook walked into Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, and started shooting. When he was done, eight people, including Ashbrook, were dead, and another seven were wounded. The 1Oth anniversary of the tragedy, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, marks an important opportunity to examine the state of church security across America.

According to Jeffrey Hawkins, founder and executive director of the Christian Security Network, more than 75 percent of congregations in the United States are still unprepared for a security emergency.

“Security is extremely misunderstood in the Christian community,” Hawkins said. “Christian leaders really need to understand that incidents like this could happen in any congregation, but also, how easily—with the right information and planning—security can be integrated into their world.”

The danger is real. Hawkins says seven killings have been documented in the U.S. churches this year, the most recent the tragic killing of a pastor in her church in Oklahoma, with even higher numbers of assaults, arsons, robberies and burglaries.

The Sept. 12, 2009, edition of “World” magazine features an article by Mark Bergin (http://www.worldmag.com/articles/15805) that highlights how to balance the need for security with the need for openness. Bergin writes:

Hawkins, with 30 years of experience in security and law enforcement, wants every church, no matter its size, to think through and deploy a security strategy. He doesn’t mean armed guards and metal detectors: “You don’t want your security to be intimidating, because you don’t want to drive people away or give the impression you’re not inviting. Good security is like an iceberg; the general public should only see about 10 percent of what you have.”

Hawkins, formerly chief security officer for a large international Christian ministry, regularly consults with churches and denominations. Available for interviews on this topic, Hawkins is frequently quoted in magazines and on radio and television.

The Christian Security Network (www.christiansecuritynetwork.com) is a national organization dedicated to the advancement of security, safety and emergency planning for Christian churches, schools, ministries and missionaries. The organization provides training, information and resources to help faith-based organizations minimize risks and increase safety. In addition to implementing plans against violent acts, arson and similar tragedies, Christian Security Network also provides resources that address lawsuits and liability, medical emergencies and destructive weather. The organization provides webinars, seminars, training articles, access to intelligence information, grant information to fund security measures, on-site risk assessments and educational materials.

As a service to the public, Christian Security Network is providing a Q&A (below) with Hawkins on recent trends in church security. In the interview, titled, “Vulnerable to Violence,” Hawkins warns, “Respect for the church is over.” Members of the media are encouraged to reproduce the 800-word Q&A, in whole or in part, either in print or online.

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VULNERABLE TO VIOLENCE

Security Expert Says ‘Respect for the Church Is Over’

In this Q&A, Jeffrey Hawkins, founder and executive director of the Christian Security Network (CSN), highlights security challenges facing churches—and what they can do about it.

What trends in church safety do you see?

Growing up in Chicago, the church was my safe haven, a place to get away from problems on the streets and gangs. The church was respected, and no one would think to go in and commit a violent act or steal from the church. The doors used to be left unlocked. That can’t happen anywhere these days. Churches are treated by the criminals no differently than any other buildings. My old church is now locked tight.

What are law-enforcement people telling you?

They tell me that respect for the church is over. The church is seen as a soft target and one of opportunity–again, no different than any other building: It has persons they can harm and property they can steal.

Are churches being targeted more these days? What about mosques and synagogues?

My experience says yes—churches are being targeted because so many other buildings have hardened themselves with alarms, lights, guards, etc. Offices, government buildings, malls, and so on have all stepped up security because of the increased risk, but churches have not. Thus they remain a vulnerable, predictable, unsecured target.

We really don’t know about other religions, and this is why we are forming a Faith Based Organization Security Council under ASIS International [until 2002 the American Society for Industrial Security], located in D.C. This will be a group of all faiths who share incidents, threats, and risks to see what we have in common and what sets us apart.

We have seen more media coverage of violence, hate crimes and even terrorism against churches and other houses of worship. How much of this reporting reflects a trend of more violence, and how much is simply an indication of more awareness?

We have no way to tell if this is just increased awareness by the media or an actual trend. The media have not reported a spike in crimes against the Christian church; they are just reporting incidents that will get people’s attention. Locally there will be stories of break-ins or robberies, but nationally you will see the more sensational cases, such as shootings or high-dollar internal thefts.

We still see the same replies from church leaders after they are victims of a crime: “We never thought it would happen here” or “We never thought someone would do THIS to a church.”

There may be awareness by the media, but I don’t think there is awareness by the Christian community as a whole, which is what we are trying to accomplish. As we say at CSN, “Being informed is the first step in being prepared.”

Why is it hard to pin down the trend with statistics?

There is no credible statistical tracking of crimes against Christian organizations that I know of. That is why CSN started tracking them this year.

Even statistical reporting systems, such as the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), do not require all police departments to report their crime, and there is no check and balance system to ensure that police departments are reporting crime in their areas accurately. That said, it is the best that we have.

The hate crime report, also done by the FBI, does include certain religious groups, but again, this system is limited. The motive for the criminal act has to be determined as hate to be classified as a hate crime. For instance, when someone walks into a church and shoots the pastor, is that person driven by hate for the church, hate for the pastor, or is the shooter just mentally ill and looking for a soft target? It matters because the motive will make it a homicide, lumped in with all other violent crimes in the U.S.—or a hate crime against a religious institution.

Are churches more aware of security issues than they used to be?

They are starting to come around. Organizations such as the Christian Security Network help in the awareness, and law enforcement organizations on all levels are starting to realize that churches need to learn how to protect themselves.

What ought they to be doing?

Become aware, become educated, and then prepare. The first step is a risk assessment to determine what are their particular risks and threats. Even though all churches and ministries share the same base-level risks, how they should protect themselves and plan for emergencies should be different. The risk assessment looks at everything from internal controls to security measures to emergency plans–it is an all-encompassing evaluation from which to build security and emergency plans.

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