The Role that House of Worship Active Shooter Training Plays in an Effective Church Security Plan

The FBI reports that, in the last couple of years alone, 50 active shooters have incited terror within the U.S. One event resulted in the third highest number of casualties occurring at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, where 26 were killed and another 20 were wounded.

49 worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand were gunned down by a sole shooter in less than 10 minutes per incident. This could easily have happened here in America.

That’s why every church, synagogue, and mosque must develop an emergency action plan (EAP), and part of an effective church security plan involves engaging in House of Worship active shooter survival training.

What Is House of Worship Active Shooter Survival Training?

House of Worship active shooter survival training is training that church leaders and members take to learn how to respond to violent attacks, and why how they occur.

Studying violent offenders and mass killings to understand why they act the way they do and how they do it, has enabled us to create response plans to better prepare for such events. It also makes it easier to recognize the signs and symptoms before an attack occurs, and develop and implement effective countermeasures, potentially saving hundreds of lives.

3 Steps to Implementing Active Shooter Training into Your Church Security Plan

With House of Worship active shooter survival training, there are three steps to implementing this process into your Church Security Plan.

• The first step is to learn what to do should your religious institution ever encounter a violent attack.
• The second step in preparing for an active shooter at your church is to develop a plan specific to your religious institution. This plan takes into account the physical layout of your place of worship, how many members you typically have at your services, and several other critical factors.
• The third and final step is to practice your plan. Not once or twice, but regularly so everyone knows exactly how to respond should an active shooter, mass killer incident arise.

ALIVE House of Worship Active Shooter Survival Training attendees leave the training knowing appropriate steps to take in violent encounters. This involves following the ALIVE protocol, which stands for Assess, Leave, Impede, Violence, and Expose.