The first goal of safety is prevention. Prevention requires people watching for trouble with enough education to identify dangers and deal with them as responsible Christians. This means training for greeters as well as immediate back-up for them when they need it. The first tactic for a suspicious person is to remove any opportunity from them by using the intiative from the church to prevent potential drama. In some cases, this may not be possible, but it is alway preferrable to have a sinner come to the church, hear the Gospel, and not have any opportunity to commit a crime because they are engaged with a church member(s) who treat them with kindness, respect, and firmness. The mission of the church is to spread the Gospel of Christ and glorify our Lord.
This is typically called pre-action or pre-emption when a trained team or individual sees a potential drama and prevents it by removing the initiative from the suspicious person and replaces it with initiative from the church membership. This is sometimes called a “soft” confrontation because the church member is using a loving approach to deal with a hurting or confused suspicious person. The difference is that the church member is intent on both witnessing for Jesus AND preventing the suspicious person from harming themselves or anyone else.
An example seen not too long ago during a time of heightened threats against the church–A very strong man in his late 20’s or early 30’s with gang tattoos waits until a large group of people is about to enter and then mixes into the group to quickly pass the greeter. The greeter has no opportunity to stop or question the man about his heavy bag in his left hand, or evaluate the loose clothing he has that could be carrying weapons. A security responder was watching at a distance and immediately was concerned–the bag was just too heavy for its size and the man was choosing a place to sit that could see all the exits and be close to the pastor. The security team watches the responder go sit next to this man on the side he carries the bag. Another responder sits a few feet behind them and the service starts.
During the singing and standing time, the man takes stock of where everyone is and detects the responder two rows behind him. He thinks about picking up the bag, but the first responder has his leg against it–while singing and smiling. After the service is over, the man stands up and picks up his bag in his left hand, but the first responder simply crowds close while others pass by. When the man goes into his “thousand-yard stare” and tries to back up to create space for himself, the first responder simply keeps crowding him and speaking directly to him about his past family life, the message of salvation, and not allowing him to get mentally “set” to perform any evil. The man has little choice but to finally engage the first responder in conversation where the first responders shows concern for this man, responds to his words, and keeps so close that the man could not reach into his bag or waist-band without interferrance if he wanted to. Very quickly the man becomes convinced he doesn’t have the control he apparently wanted and becomes quite subdued and leaves smiling with the first responder staying with him until he leaves the property.
The rest of the church saw the man and the responders, but no drama. There were no raised voices (except for singing), no anger evident, and no apparent cause for concern. The man left smiling, the Gospel of Christ was presented at least twice, and nothing appeared to happen. This is a small example of what successful church security response looks like–love demonstrated without drama.