By Zalman Myer-Smith
There is no real let up in ensuring the Jewish community has the tools, tactics and systems to protect their synagogues, schools and community members. Even during the summer when school is out, camp is in and families travel, there is intensive planning and preparation for security protocols and training for the coming school year. Tishrei planning collides with back to school and also requires considerable time and effort to ensure optimal safety and security responses.
Just last week in Memphis there was an incident at the Margolin Hebrew Academy school where a suspect walked in with a handgun. There was then an altercation with law enforcement where the suspect was shot, hospitalized and is in custody. I won’t get into details regarding that incident, but it certainly highlights the reality that security threats are constantly impacting the Jewish community and can come from a variety of sources and at any time. Threats against Jewish communities still hold at record levels.
As security is an ongoing part of your operation (whatever level you have in place), it should be effective and constantly evaluated by security professionals and law enforcement. We have shown sites on a very low budget how to secure their facility in 36 hours. Without detailing here for operational security reasons, I would like to share some practical steps you can take as we rapidly approach the Back to Shul/Back to School season:
While there are deeper short, medium and long term steps to take, start here with the fundamentals that will help secure your facility and occupants from terror or extremist attacks.
1) Assessments – get a security assessment done by security professionals as well as by local law enforcement. Law enforcement evaluations can vary from being mediocre to being very insightful. Their input is important regardless. Having more than one security evaluation gives you different perspectives on your security strengths and weaknesses.
2) Evaluate your site – Prioritize starting from the exterior and work your way in.
3) Active Shooter Response – The worst case scenario for sure, but any breach is a breach. How would you, your staff, occupants and campus respond to an active shooter incident? How can you mitigate the success of an attacker. There is Run, Hide & Fight promoted by law enforcement which is a good start but very basic start.
4) Breach response/mitigation – How easy is it for someone to bypass your security? What if it’s someone dressed as a UPS driver or utility worker or even looks like a parent/congregant? How do you differentiate between known regular visitors and those who need more scrutiny? I know, it’s called profiling, but it’s a legitimate proactive security process that works and saves lives.
5) Grants – start the process now for DHS/FEMA security grants and anything that your state might offer in addition. Every nonprofit should apply and although it’s highly competitive, help is available to secure the grant and navigate the overwhelming government paperwork to fulfill the award. Contact us directly for more information and details.
6) Security Fee – if it’s possible, add a modest security fee to your site. This demonstrates you are serious about security and investing in life protecting systems. It also helps offset costs and reduces excuses about not having sufficient security in place.
7) Law enforcement and Medical Emergency communications and contacts – who are your local law enforcement or medical emergency directors? Do you know them by name? Do you only meet them during an emergency or have you invited them in for coffee and cake (or donuts) or even cholent at the kiddush on Shabbos? Make and strengthen these connections. It’s great proactive outreach.
8) Culture of Security/Safety – Do you promote a culture of security and safety? Do you have signage, one point of entry, licensed armed security or off duty police or trained security volunteers? Does your site look secure if someone is observing it to test your security or prior to planning an attack?
9) Internal emergency communications – do you know internally how to communicate a security or medical emergency to summon help and alert others on your campus to take planned, drilled and appropriate action?
Your facility’s primary security goal must be to slow down the progress of an attacker and speed up your responses. If you don’t succeed in that, G-d forbid, you will have to deal with the challenge of stopping the killing and stopping the bleeding in order to save lives. It’s a tragic reality that we have to face, but there are significant steps that you can take to mitigate such a disaster.
To paraphrase Ben Franklin, Don’t push off tomorrow what can be done today. Threats against Jewish communities still hold at record levels. Our enemies are ready to test the security of your facility. Are you ready?
Zalman Myer-Smith is the Director Of Chabad Security Department – Florida and focuses on liaising, training, and working with law enforcement agencies and serving hundreds of Jewish community synagogues, schools, and centers. He can be reached at [email protected]
