Building Security
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:55 am
I realize that this might be slightly off topic, but I thought I would throw it out there to see what other folks might think.
Our building is not in the best part of town. Not what I would call a war zone, but just not in a great area.
Recently, we have had some building security issues. We've had instances of neighborhood kids sneaking in on a Wed. night or other time when the building is open, and then either hiding out till everyone leaves, or sticking a pencil / pebble in one of the doors to prop it open and then open the doors and let their friends in to run around the building when nobody is there.
We also had an incident recently where a member's bicycle was stolen off of his car while it was out in the parking lot on a Wed. night.
We have had conversations with the stake, the Physical Facilities reps and with the police.
At one point we had a wireless doorbell put up, but it didn't work very well in all areas of the church, and with a regular doorbell it's hard to have chimes in every area of the church (whereever people might be having their activities - gym, RS room, chapel, etc). Plus, you want to make sure that it's configurable in such a way that it does not interrupt sacrament meeting.
Last night while brainstorming we thought of the idea of something along the lines of the pagers that you get at restaurants while waiting for a table. I see online that there are lots of things like that as well as pagers that are designed specifically for churches, though just about all of those that I saw were designed to alert parents in churches where there is a separate nursery during the main worship service.
So.... anyone have any experience with situations like this? And/or ideas / brainstorms / thoughts?
Our building is not in the best part of town. Not what I would call a war zone, but just not in a great area.
Recently, we have had some building security issues. We've had instances of neighborhood kids sneaking in on a Wed. night or other time when the building is open, and then either hiding out till everyone leaves, or sticking a pencil / pebble in one of the doors to prop it open and then open the doors and let their friends in to run around the building when nobody is there.
We also had an incident recently where a member's bicycle was stolen off of his car while it was out in the parking lot on a Wed. night.
We have had conversations with the stake, the Physical Facilities reps and with the police.
At one point we had a wireless doorbell put up, but it didn't work very well in all areas of the church, and with a regular doorbell it's hard to have chimes in every area of the church (whereever people might be having their activities - gym, RS room, chapel, etc). Plus, you want to make sure that it's configurable in such a way that it does not interrupt sacrament meeting.
Last night while brainstorming we thought of the idea of something along the lines of the pagers that you get at restaurants while waiting for a table. I see online that there are lots of things like that as well as pagers that are designed specifically for churches, though just about all of those that I saw were designed to alert parents in churches where there is a separate nursery during the main worship service.
So.... anyone have any experience with situations like this? And/or ideas / brainstorms / thoughts?