Two recent incidents show once again the need for churches to place as much emphasis on the presence of security in their parking lots as they do in all other areas of the church.

Recently in a suburb outside of Chicago and elderly man was viciously attacked after a Saturday evening service. He was punched and bitten by the much younger offender in an apparent robbery attempt in the church parking lot. Thank the Lord that the victim was not seriously injured and the offender was caught.

The case was different in Youngstown Ohio on a January morning. In this case an 80-year-old woman walked out to her car in the church parking lot after an 8:00 am Saturday service and was shot and killed in a robbery. An 18-year-old offender was later apprehended.

Both of these cases have similarities. The victims were elderly, they were just leaving worship services, and they were parked in the church parking lot. Both offenders were much younger and robbery was the motive.

The difference is the time the incidents occurred (one in the morning and one in the evening) and in only the case of the fatality was a gun used.

In both cases the incident could have been prevented by having security in the parking lots or offering an escort, especially to those who are most vulnerable.

When you go to the shopping mall, hospital, or some other public place, you see security patrolling in vehicles, bikes, and on foot. There are usually security cameras, and often there are signs that state if you need a security escort to your vehicle call them. These security measures make sense because people, especially women walking alone or the elderly, are easy targets in parking lots.

Public places like the malls, hospitals, etc. understand this and take necessary precautions; why should the church be any different?

The predictability of the service times, the vulnerability of the victims, and the lack of security generally displayed by most churches make the church parking lot an ideal target.

These are not the first cases we have seen where church members, staff, and volunteers become crime victims in the church parking lot. In addition, we have also seen numerous instances where vehicles in church lots are also often targeted for theft and vandalism.

Security measures such as lighting, fences, cameras, and controlled landscaping help, but do not take the place of security personnel.

And as we have seen about the time contrast between these two incidents, you cannot predict that times after dusk are riskier than daylight hours. The incident where the woman was killed happened in the morning hours.

Before, during, and after church worship times or other events, there needs to be visible security in the parking lots. Make your people wear reflective vests, make sure they have a method of communication (preferably two-way radios), and if possible have trained security or off-duty police perform this function.

Reduce the risks and staff the parking lots; this is not one of those items that can wait.

In Christ,
Jeff Hawkins
Executive Director