How to Develop Security Policy And Procedures

Why are security policies & procedures important?

We could perhaps rephrase this question to a statement. That many organizations do not have adequate policies and procedures that cover the most common modern-day risks that we know exist. Such as active shooters, bomb threats, workplace violence, suspicious behavior and unattended items. Developing effective safety and security protocols can be complex, time consuming and often overwhelming but well written operational governance can significantly reduce the gaps that expose your organization to security vulnerabilities.

What activities should be in the policy and procedures guide?

A question we often get asked is what should be in our security policy and procedure document. There is no finite answer, but it must be comprehensive and detailed enough that staff and volunteers and sometimes even your visitors and guests both know how to respond in an emergency situation. If you can get to a good point of operational security governance, you can significantly reduce the risk of harm to your people, programs and property while detecting threats earlier!

The security policy and procedures (SPP) should include, but not limited to the following:  

If we create all these procedures are we risk-free?

We would love the answer to be yes, but we all know that life doesn’t work like that! Risks vary by business, school, church, non-profit, organization, person, country and more!

All we can do with risk is identify it, and put preventative controls in place (policy/procedures) to mitigate or manage the risk. Having a plan will give you peace of mind to know that you have done everything possible to be proactive to reduce risk.

It is important to remember that any list no matter how comprehensive doesn’t cover every imaginable incident that your organization may come up against, but assessing your organization's policies and procedures against your "what if" questions will provide you with assurance that you have preventative controls in place to mitigate risk.

Simon Osamoh is a British American and founder of Kingswood Security Consulting and the Worship Security Academy. He spent 14 years as a Detective in England working serious and organized crime. He moved to the United States to Head Counter Terrorism at Mall of America, Minnesota. Simon is a Christian and has spent over a decade helping non-profits stay safe and secure. He is the author of three books, Securing Church Operations, Church Safety Responding to Suspicious Behavior and 10 Powerful Strategies for Conflict De-escalation. He is the host of the Church Security Made Simple Podcast and a member of the Worship Facility Editorial Advisory Board.

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