VI – Self-Defense – Page 8

Church Greeters and Ushers: Eyes and Ears for Security

Church greeters and ushers are hospitality volunteers—whether standing outside of entrance doors or inside by tabletops, kiosks, and auditorium doors or walking people down worship service aisles—who provide a warm first impression for visitors and members, acting as welcoming ambassadors for the church by offering a smile, a sincere greeting, and assistance. Their roles include directing guests, answering questions about ministries or services, providing directions to restrooms and classrooms, and ensuring everyone feels comfortable and connected to the church community. Effective greeters are friendly, informed about the church’s activities, and can quickly assess visitors’ needs to make them feel valued and at ease.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Interview With Lori Morrison, Private Investigator ]

Retired licensed private investigator and member of her church’s safety team, Lori Morrison, says greeters should also act as eyes and ears for overall security during church events. In her Worship Facility article, “Training Our First Line of Defense: 4 Critical Issues for Church Greeters and Parking Attendants,” she writes, “With proper training, our greeters and parking attendants can become watchful sentinels who protect while they welcome.”

FBI: Reported Crime Statistics in America for 2024

A violent crime occurred in the United States, on average, every 25.9 seconds in 2024, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program of over 14 million criminal offenses reported by more than 16,000 participating law enforcement agencies and analyzed by the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer.

[ Bookmark the SemperVerus CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

On average, a murder occurred every 31.1 minutes and a rape occurred every 4.1 minutes. Violent crimes include murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault; property crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Chart: The Spectrum of Potential Threat Personas in Self-Defense and Church Security ]

Just under 73% of the persons arrested in the nation during 2024 were males. They accounted for 78.7% of persons arrested for violent crime and 65.6% of persons arrested for property crime.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A List of Active Killer Incidents at Houses of Worship and Religious Schools ]

In 2024, 65.5% of all persons arrested were White, 30.5% were Black or African American, and the remaining 4.1% were of other races.

By semperverus
Posted on 09/02/202511/21/2025

Security Lessons from Church of the Annunciation Attack

Shortly before 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, August 27, 2025, as faculty and elementary- and middle-school students of Annunciation Catholic School gathered for their first all-school Mass of the year, gunfire suddenly ripped through the stained-glass windows of the sanctuary at the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Church Active Shooter Prevention Saves Lives in Wayne, MI ]

In a meticulously premeditated attack, the lone murderer—dressed in black, armed with a rifle, shotgun, and pistol, and positioned outside the church—killed two children, injured 18 other people, and then committed suicide. The assailant had barricaded at least two exit doors from the outside with pieces of lumber. Witnesses say the attack lasted no more than two minutes. News reports do not indicate that a church security team was present.

[ Bookmark the SemperVerus CHURCH SECURITY INTELLIGENCE CLIPBOARD ]

Approximately 116 rifle ammunition casings, three shotgun shell casings, and one unfired pistol cartridge were recovered from the scene. The handgun appeared to have malfunctioned.

Head of the Arkansas State Police Supports 2nd Amendment Rights

The director of the Arkansas State Police says guns should be allowed to be carried in state parks by law-abiding citizens in the wake of a mother and father knifed to death at Devil’s Den State Park in July.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of the SECOND AMENDMENT ]

“Unfortunately, we do deal with bad people who have weapons. The more good people we have with weapons, the better off we are,” Col. Hagar testified before the Game & Fish/State Police legislative subcommittee August 14, 2025.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Criminals and Terrorists Overwhelmingly Select Gun-Free Zones For Mass Attacks in Public Spaces ]

Col. Hagar made it clear that he supports the right of law-abiding citizens to carry firearms, even in places currently restricted under state law; for example, gun-free zones—public locations arbitrarily declared by politicians to be off-limits to guns, naively thinking criminals will abide by that legal declaration, when in fact, only law-abiding citizens will, thereby putting themselves in harm’s way without the ability to defend themselves against a criminal’s deadly threat.