There are approximately 250,400 religious congregations,
consisting of about 138 million members, in the United
States. Members of these congregations practice
approximately 200 different religions or divisions of
religions and meet weekly in more than 240,000 facilities
across the country.
Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activity
Terrorists have a wide variety of weapons and tactics
available to achieve their objectives. Specific threats of most
concern to religious facilities include:
• Improvised explosive devices
• Arson
• Small arms attack
• Assassination/kidnapping
• Chemical/biological/radiological agent attack
Terrorist activity indicators are observable anomalies or
incidents that may precede a terrorist attack. Indicators of an
imminent attack requiring immediate action may include the
following:
• Persons in crowded areas (e.g., facility meeting areas)
wearing unusually bulky clothing that might conceal
suicide explosives or weapons
• Vehicles parked illegally near facility buildings or near
places where large numbers of people gather that might
contain explosives
• Unattended packages (e.g., backpacks, briefcases,
boxes) that might contain explosives
• Evidence of unauthorized access to areas of the building
containing heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning
(HVAC) equipment
Indicators of potential surveillance by terrorists include:
• Persons using or carrying video/camera/observation
equipment in or near the facility over an extended
period
• Persons discovered with facility maps, photos, or
diagrams with critical assets highlighted or notes
regarding infrastructure or listing of personnel
• Persons questioning religious facility employees off-site
about practices pertaining to the facility and its
operations
• Persons parking, standing, or loitering in the same area
over a multiple-day period with no apparent reasonable
explanation
• Facility employees associating with suspicious
individuals
• An increase in threats from unidentified sources by
telephone, postal mail, or the e-mail system and/or an
increase in reports of threats from outside known,
reliable sources
Common Vulnerabilities
The following are key common vulnerabilities of religious
facilities:
• Significant numbers of people of like faith gathered in a
single location at specified times, making the facility
a ready target
• Unrestricted access to religious services
• Unrestricted access to peripheral areas, such as
contiguous parking areas and separate educational
facilities
• Building systems that are vulnerable to fire,
contamination via heating and cooling systems,
explosives, and blocked emergency exits
• Access by workers and maintenance staff who may not
undergo background checks
• Easy identification either by facility configuration or
signage
• Non-profit status, which may result in limited resources
for security
Protective Measures
Protective measures include equipment, personnel, and procedures designed to protect a facility against threats and to
mitigate the effects of an attack. Protective measures for
religious facilities include:
• Planning and Preparedness
− Designate an employee as security director
− Develop a comprehensive security plan and
emergency response plan for the facility
− Establish liaison and regular communication with
local law enforcement and emergency responders
− Conduct regular exercises with facility employees to
test the security and emergency response plans
• Personnel
− Conduct background checks on all employees
− Incorporate security awareness into employee training
programs
− Maintain an adequate security force using both
employees and congregation volunteers
• Access Control
− Define the facility perimeter and areas within the
facility that require access control
− Limit access to congregation members and visitors to
a level consistent with facility operations
− Keep vehicles away from critical assets and from
areas where large numbers of people congregate
− Require that all illegally parked vehicles be moved or
have them towed
− Provide adequate door and window locks, barred
entryways, and fencing and gate locks to areas where
access is to be limited; add intrusion detection
systems and alarms as appropriate
− Train mail room and receiving personnel to recognize
suspicious mail, packages, shipments, or deliveries
• Barriers
− Evaluate the need for perimeter barriers (e.g., fences,
berms, concrete walls) around the facility
− Establish a clear zone adjacent to sensitive or critical
buildings; keep zone free of vegetation and other
obstructions to allow for continuous monitoring
− Install barriers to protect doors and windows from
small arms fire and explosive blast effects
− Install barriers at HVAC systems to prevent the
introduction of chemical, biological, or radiological
agents into the building
• Communication and Notification
− Install system(s) that provide communication with all
individuals at the facility, including employees,
security force personnel, congregation members, and
visitors
− Develop a notification protocol that specifies who
should be contacted in emergencies
• Monitoring, Surveillance, Inspection
− Evaluate needs and design a monitoring, surveillance,
and inspection program that is consistent with facility
operations and security requirements
− Provide visual surveillance capability for sensitive
and critical assets at the facility
− Continuously monitor all people entering and leaving
the facility; train monitors to detect suspicious
behavior
• Infrastructure Interdependencies
− Ensure that the facility has adequate utility service
capacity to meet normal and emergency needs
− Secure dumpsters and other trash containers to
prevent the hiding of explosives or other hazardous
materials
• Cyber Security
− Develop and implement a security plan for computer
and information systems hardware and software
− Design and implement a secure computer network
architecture
− Regularly review facility Web site to ensure that no
sensitive information is provided
• Incident Response
− Ensure that an adequate number of emergency
response personnel are available at all times
− Check the status of all emergency response equipment
and supplies on a regular basis
− Identify entry and exit points to be used in
emergencies
− Ensure that employees are familiar with procedures
for shutting off utility services (e.g., electricity,
natural gas) in emergency situations
More detailed information on religious facilities is contained
in the document, Religious Facilities: Potential Indicators of
Terrorist Activity, Common Vulnerabilities, and Protective
Measures. This and other information on issues relevant to a
wide range of critical infrastructures and key resources are
also available from the contacts listed below.
