In response to escalating requests for guidance following recent attacks on Jewish institutions, the local Jewish Community Relations Council and Anti-Defamation League have developed security guidelines.
“In today’s world, it is impossible to say, ‘It can’t happen here,'” said Rabbi Doug Kahn, executive director of the S.F-based JCRC.
Following the June 18 Sacramento-area arsons and last week’s shooting at a Los Angeles-area Jewish community center, Jewish agencies around the Bay Area are sizing up their offices for safety. Some are adding electronic gates, callboxes and alarms.
On a national level, Jewish agencies are also taking action. ADL National Director Abraham Foxman is negotiating with a security firm to produce a 15-minute video on internal safety for local organizations. And the ADL is setting up a 24-hour hotline.
After the Sacramento arsons, the ADL’s San Francisco office “received a rash of phone calls about security,” said Jessica Ravitz, associate regional director. A conference on the topic was in the works when news hit about the attack on the North Valley JCC on Tuesday of last week. Five were wounded, including three young children. “After that, we got a ton of calls,” Ravitz said.
The ADL is proceeding with that security conference, which will take place Tuesday morning, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco.
Discussing security measures, Ravitz said some of the most effective steps are relatively simple.
“I really do believe 50 percent of security lies in awareness, not elaborate systems,” she said. “What kind of information you give out over the phone. Communication within an organization. Placing lights under bushes. These aren’t expensive things to do.”
Typically after an attack on Jews or Jewish organizations, agencies post armed guards.
But Kahn said the feedback from local boards indicates they are anguishing over whether it’s possible to be both armed and haimish. And agencies whose mission is to invite, include and involve are understandably reluctant to make visitors navigate a moat of electronic security to access services.
“This is a judgment call each institution has to make,” Kahn said. “The hiring of security guards is sometimes seen as being important for a sense of peace of mind among members even when [they’re] not required from a security perspective.”
But Ravitz said typically, when the issue has disappeared from the front pages, the guard has disappeared, too.
“We worry about three months later, when no system is in place,” she said.
Among the recommendations:
*Develop a working relationship with local police, and give the district station the names and numbers of three agency staffers who can be called in an emergency. The JCRC urges synagogues to meet with police before the High Holy Days, and let officers know what their schedule of services will be.
*Advise custodians to check the building and grounds daily, but to handle unfamiliar boxes, parcels or objects such as pieces of pipe with extreme caution and notify police.
*Contact police for a site security assessment. In San Francisco, that is Project Safe at (415) 673-SAFE.
*Turn all threatening messages over to the police including questionable telephone messages or e-mails. Handle threatening letters or faxes as little as possible before handing them to authorities.
*Cut back trees and shrubbery to leave windows clear. Install lighting outside, and enclose outside passageways with locking gates.
Among the featured speakers at Tuesday’s security conference are business security specialist Furlishous Wyatt Jr., who contracts with the San Francisco Police Department and other agencies; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division Director John P. Malone; San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan; and ADL Regional Director Jonathan Bernstein. Representatives of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI and civil rights organizations will meet with participants in break-out sessions.
“We’d love for receptionists to come,” Ravitz said. They are the first to have phone contact, or greet people.”