| Galatians 6:10 |
| "... doing good for all believers... " |
| 05/11/09 - Church security: Why the numbers are important |
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The Christian Security Network has been tracking crimes against Christian organizations, mostly churches, since the start of 2009. We started because when we looked around for information, we were not able to find crime statistics strictly within the Christian community. We had hoped to release first quarter numbers to the public in April, however the tasks of compiling all this information, ensuring its accuracy, and assigning such things as costs was a little more time consuming then we had anticipated. Seeing that we are already well into the second quarter of the year, we opted to wait until July and release a mid-year report. However, this does not mean that the first quarter numbers should not be recognized, analyzed, and reflected upon. Each incident that we report on our website every day has a lesson to be learned. Some of the incidents you look at and wonder how some organizations could be so naïve in their vulnerability (like when the same church gets burglarized three times in a row). And then there are other incidents where you think, “Wow, I never would have thought of that” (like the fake armored car driver who went into a church and was handed all their donations and bank deposits – who would have thought?) It is important that these incidents are looked at from an individual standpoint (lessons learned) and from the broad perspective (how many incidents are occurring across the country on a daily basis). Although we won’t release an “official” report of the first quarter, here is a summary: • 194 total incidents • 36 states • 4 homicides • 5 other violent incidents against persons • 1 suicide • 1 attempted suicide • over $2.4 million in property loss Note that these incidents are complied from a variety of sources and verified against news media reports or police departments. Cost estimates are based on actual reported losses, as well as averages reported from organizations such as the NFPA in cases of arson. This report is by no means meant to be all-inclusive since many incidents do not go reported and there are no mandatory reporting requirements for this area. This reports is compiled with the attempt to be as accurate as possible. We also know that these incidents are very much under-reported. For instance the dollar loss figure could easily be tripled based on our estimates. And we know there have been incidents against churches and other Christian organizations in probably every state we just haven’t found them because of the lack of reporting. In the beginning the Christian Security Network did not list crimes on the home page of the website. However, as we began speaking with more and more people, we discovered that most did not realize that incidents such as these were happening against Christian organizations on a daily basis. When the tragic shooting in Maryville, Illinois occurred, not too many people were aware that two churches in other parts of the country were the victims of arson and on the west coast another Pastor was almost shot and killed, but police were able to stop the offender before he carried out the act – this was just on one Sunday. As I have stated before, we cannot become numb by the statistics. We have to ensure that we are learning from these incidents and ensuring that we are doing what is reasonable and prudent so one day we don’t have to say “I didn’t think it could happen here”. Being informed is the first step in being prepared! In Christ, Jeff Hawkins Executive Director |
