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BUILDING SECURITY POLICY
Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Adopted into the Operations Manual on May 14, 2004
by the QUUF Board

In New York City, minimal security can mean multiple bolt locks on the doors, bars on the windows, and an alarm system (or a German Shepard dog). In Port Townsend, half the doors in town are unlocked all the time. Homeowners' insurance in town asks for bolt locks on the doors, but that's all.

QUUF needs to find its place in this spectrum of security possibilities. Bars on the windows? Not the right image for our church. Alarm system? Too impractical for a building with so many people coming and going. Open door 24 hours/day? No, that seems to be asking for trouble.

We want enough security to deter casual or spontaneous mischief, and also enough to satisfy our insurance provider. But for now we don't want so much security that we discourage the church from being well used by its members. A professional thief is hard to stop.

This year's Board has formalized the following procedure as a security "middle ground:"

  1. When the building is not in use, the doors and windows should be locked.

  2. The code for the current key box should be changed each September by the Buildings and Grounds Committee. Two weeks before the change, B & G should notify the Office Administrator of the new code and of the date of changeover. The office manager should in turn notify the following of the new code and the changeover date. A list of the names of those given the code should be printed, saved and updated during the year by the office manager.

    1. Minister
    2. Office Administrator
    3. Religious Education Director
    4. Religious Education Assistant
    5. Custodian
    6. Music Director
    7. Board Members
    8. Committee Chairs
    9. OWL Teachers
    10. Youth Advisors
    11. Newsletter editor

  3. Each person on the list above may use his or her discretion about sharing the code with others members in order to expedite events at the church. Be very cautious about giving the code out to non-members. We all need to remember that the person who opens up the church for an event is responsible for making sure that the church is locked up again afterwards.