Dec.1 - Brownstown cops seek man who robbed, shot at parishioner

Nov. 29th - Robbery during Dallas-area church service

Nov. 28th - Madisonville parishioners robbed at gun point

Nov. 21st - Thieves in Ohio get high-tech gear in burglary

This is just a few days of crimes committed on church property in the United States and the problem is not getting any better.  While we feel shocked by those who would victimize a place of worship, criminals see churches as easy targets. 

Besides the crimes that are created out of a desire to take property, there are also a large number of unstable psychopaths who, for religious or other reasons, choose to commit violence against priests, ministers, and other staff and congregations in attendance. 

Due to the unique attributes of a place of worship, Sentinel Consulting Group chose to create special programs for addressing crime prevention and threat analysis in these institutions.  Services include:

• Denomination specific threat assessment - It is no surprise that certain religions are of such a controversial nature that they have unique risks.  This program is designed to research and identify those attributes, and pursue a security strategy that lowers the overall vulnerability.

• Physical security assessments - Due to the hours of operation, limited emphasis on access control and other factors, a security survey for churches is much different than other entities.  So, this asssessment is designed to capture those unique risks and make recommendations that allow for increased security while minimizing the welcoming nature of a place of worship.

• Emergency Response Team - In this program, we work to identify key personnel and members of the church to create an emergency response team that can assist in a time of crisis.  Often times, there is a police officer, firefighter, emt or other first responder in the congregation.  SCG sets up a program where those individuals volunteer to be available in the event of a security situation, medical incident or disaster scenario.