When is a Lock Down Called For and Needed?

When and what are some times when a Lockdown is needed and what are good procedures for it? Management must make good decisions after careful review and discussion with your counsel and insurance company, to be sure it is sound.

And like any Plan, it must be supported by top management and it must be in place before it is needed, with proper planning and training, and then practiced to be sure it will work smoothly. It is too late if the need occurs before the Plan is set.

Does your church, school, business or facility have a policy for when a Lock Down is necessary? Do you have a good, proven method of recording and documenting children in Sunday School and who is authorized and allowed to come and get them?

The Need, A Plan: “The prudent foresee danger and take precautions…” Proverbs 22:3

The Action to meet the Need: “We prayed to our God and posted a guard…” Nehemiah 4:9

What IF a child is missing, your parking lot or police advise an attack is imminent or could occur, and maybe a crown is gathering to attempt entry?

Every location and organization should have a Plan or lockdown strategy, that governs the state of every opening of the building, both on demand and during a possible emergency.

Your Plan should be defined by two aspects – any special security areas or zones, and people and processes in danger or at risk. All lockdown strategies must be clearly established and they must be practiced to be sure they work. And there are several steps that organizations can take to make sure that their lockdown strategy provides their staff, members and visitors of the building or facility with the greatest amount of protection.

The strategy needs to be designed for each layer of security, from each room to the perimeter of the facility, There must be alternate plans and possible adjustments that can be made to make sure clear line-of-sight surveillance and entranceway monitoring. There should also be a good method of communicating details or changes to be made.

All organizations need to decide what is the best type of lockdown solution or any solution combinations that will best suit their facility. They will then need to make sure that all the building lockdown procedures and preparations are detailed and maintained. They need to know who will call for, direct and assure that the Plan has been carried out and make any needed changes.

Organizations will also need to learn what types of hardware or methods work best and which to avoid using, and they will need to make sure that lockdown standards are understood by all staff and those who are in the building or coming to it. Parents may get very concerned if they don’t know that their children are safe and being cared for.

Together, communicating these steps to all who may be involved or become subject to them, will help make sure that an organization’s lockdown Plan and procedures are successful and will work to protect them and those they are responsible for.

IF you do not have a Plan, and a Team to carry it out as well as Safety Teams to help, and if it has not been put into practice after training of all who will be responsible for putting it into action, you have not prepared yourself for the future needs.

Here is info on Sheepdog Security Seminars for Churches training events.

Posted in: Church Safety Security, Forming a Team, Greeters as Team, Members and Staff can Help, Parking Lot Team, Planning for our Safety Security, Safety Security, Security, Security Risk Audits, Teams for Safety Security, Training