Security Guards for Mosques
A respectful, visible presence at the entrances and the lot for Jumu'ah, Ramadan and Eid, under post orders written with your board.
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What a mosque deals with through the week
Friday, and the lot
Jumu'ah fills the building and the lot in a short window in the middle of a workday. Cars are left in the lot, on the street and in neighboring businesses' spaces, and the lot is worked while the prayer is under way.
Ramadan nights
Taraweeh brings the community to the mosque late every night for a month, with families, children and cars arriving and leaving after midnight, and the building open far later than usual.
Hostility and vandalism
Mosques receive threats, graffiti and visitors who come to provoke. The community needs someone at the entrance who can tell an interested visitor from one who is not, and a record of what happens.
School, office and weekday hours
The weekend school, the weekday office, the community hall rentals and the funeral prayers bring people to the building all week when few staff are present.
Written with the board
A mosque’s security post is written with its board from a walk of the building before Friday prayers. The post orders cover what the community needs an outsider to understand: which entrances are in use and by whom, where the officer stands during prayer, the customs of the prayer areas, the neighbors’ lots the mosque has permission to use, the weekend school’s hours and the office’s, and what the board wants done with the person outside who is watching, filming or provoking. Officers assigned to a mosque are briefed on all of it and stay on the post so the community knows them.
Friday, Ramadan, Eid
Jumu’ah is a short, full window in the middle of a workday, and the lot and the street are the exposure: the officer is at the entrance as worshippers arrive, in the lot and on the street during the prayer, and at the entrance as they leave. Ramadan extends the building’s hours past midnight for a month, and taraweeh coverage is booked for the month with the same officer each night where possible. Eid prayers are covered as an event, with the lot, the overflow and the entrances staffed for the larger attendance.
Hostility
Mosques receive threats and visitors who come to provoke. The post orders say what the officer does: observe, record a description and plate, do not confront, call the police where directed, photograph vandalism and report it. The record goes to the board for any report it wants to make to the police or to a community organization, and the pattern is reviewed with the board each month.
Weekdays
The weekend school, the office, community hall rentals, funeral prayers and community events bring people to the building through the week. Coverage for those hours is booked as the board chooses and reported the same way. An overnight patrol can check the building through Ramadan or after a threat, with each round logged.
Starting coverage
Dispatch needs the mosque’s address, the prayer schedule, the hours wanted, the administrator’s contact, the board’s decision on an armed presence and the customs the officer must know. The supervisor walks the building with the administrator, writes the post orders with the board and the officer starts on the agreed Friday.
How we cover it
Every service, applied to this post.
- Unarmed security guards
An unarmed officer at the main entrance and in the lot for Friday prayers, taraweeh through Ramadan, Eid prayers and the hours the board chooses, greeting, watching the lot during prayer, walking the building and handling the unwelcome visitor courteously by the plan agreed with the board.
- Armed security guards
Where the board has decided on an armed presence, a commissioned officer works the entrance under post orders that keep observe-and-report the default, positioned discreetly and dressed as the board prefers.
- Vehicle patrol
For centers with large lots or overflow parking on the street, a marked vehicle patrols the lot and the street during prayer, and an overnight patrol checks the building during Ramadan and after any threat.
- Access control
The separate entrances, the women's and children's areas, the school wing and the office are covered as the post orders assign, with the officer working with the mosque's own volunteers and respecting the building's customs.
- Incident reporting
A report after each covered prayer and each shift to the administrator or the board's designee: contacts, lot incidents, vandalism, threats received, doors and anything the board asked the post to watch for.
A typical post
What a shift looks like here.
The Friday officer arrives before the khutbah and walks the entrances with the administrator: which doors are in use, where the shoes are kept, where families enter, which neighboring lot the mosque has permission to use. As worshippers arrive the officer is at the main entrance and watching the lot fill and the street.
During the prayer the officer walks the lot and the street, notes a car parked across the neighbor's drive, and returns to the entrance before the prayer ends. A man who has been filming the building from the sidewalk is observed and his description and plate are logged; the post orders say to call the police if he approaches, and he leaves.
After the prayer the lot empties and the officer confirms the doors with the administrator and writes the report: the car across the drive, the man filming with the description and plate, a side door found propped. During Ramadan the same officer covers taraweeh each night and the report goes to the board's designee in the morning.
Reporting
What the daily report covers here
Every client receives a written report each day, and officer performance is reviewed and documented daily. This is what the report records on this kind of post.
- Entrances covered and doors secured, with times
- Lot and street rounds during prayer, with vehicles of interest and plates
- Persons observed watching, filming or approaching the building, with descriptions
- Contacts with visitors and the outcome
- Vandalism, graffiti and damage found, photographed and reported
- Threats or hostile messages received at the building and passed to the board
- School, office, hall rental and funeral coverage: arrivals and incidents
Will the officer respect the mosque's customs?
Yes. The post orders are written with the board and cover the building's customs: where the officer may stand, the separate entrances, the removal of shoes in prayer areas, and how the officer interacts with worshippers. Officers assigned to a mosque are briefed and stay on the post.
Can you cover all of Ramadan?
Yes. Taraweeh coverage is booked for the month, with the same officer each night where possible, and Eid prayers are covered as an event with the lot and the entrances staffed for the larger attendance.
What does the officer do about someone hostile outside?
Observes, records the description and plate, does not confront, and calls the police where the post orders direct. Vandalism is photographed and reported. The board receives the record for any report it wants to make.
Armed or unarmed?
Most centers are served by an unarmed officer at the entrance and in the lot. Where the board has decided on an armed presence, a commissioned officer holds the post under orders written with the board. The company advises; the board decides.
Can you cover the weekend school and the office?
Yes. School hours, office hours, hall rentals and funeral prayers are covered for the hours the board chooses and reported the same way.
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Request a proposal
Request a proposal for mosques.
Two short steps. Dispatch reviews every request and calls you back about coverage. For urgent unarmed coverage we can typically staff most sites within hours.
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(281) 326-9189