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Lani Preis
In Secure Community Network

Prepare for the High Holidays with Security Webinars

The Secure Community Network (SCN) is holding a High Holidays Safety and Security Webinar Series for members of the Jewish community.  

 

Please join SCN, security executives, law enforcement, and professional as well as volunteer leadership to prepare for the safety and security challenges facing the Jewish community this High Holiday season. 

The webinars are: 

All webinars will be held from 2 to 3:30pm ET and are free to attend. Click the links to register for these critical safety seminars.  

Lani Preis
In Secure Community Network

Update on Community Safety

Federation and the Secure Communities Network (SCN) want to update Jewish Atlanta on community safety following activity by antisemitic groups over the weekend. We also want to remind our community of a timely, free security training class being offered next month to all members of Jewish Atlanta. Countering Active Threat Training will be Wednesday, July 19, at 7 PM on Zoom. Click here to register for this free class.

On Friday, June 23, approximately 15 individuals demonstrated with the so-called “Goyim Defense League” (GDL) outside of Temple Beth Israel in Macon, GA. Local police arrived at the scene and arrested GDL leader Jon Minadeo for disturbance of the peace and other minor charges; he posted bond and was released hours later. On Saturday, Minadeo and other GDL protesters returned to Temple Beth Israel and were twice removed by the police. On Saturday afternoon, GDL also appeared at the Chabad of East Cobb.

On Saturday evening and Sunday, June 25, GDL distributed antisemitic flyers in several neighborhoods throughout East Cobb and Sandy Springs. Federation’s Deputy Security Director Bryan Underwood said, “Their practice is to anchor the flyers with something so that they won’t blow away. Sometimes they use pebbles or sand to do this; yesterday they used goat feed. Many concerned citizens mistook the goat feed for rat poison. In case you heard anything about this, I want to be clear: the substance used was not rat poison.”

Security experts do not believe that GDL poses an immediate threat to the people of Jewish Atlanta. Bryan says, “In my opinion, GDL does not present a significant, direct threat of violence. They generally communicate their reprehensible beliefs within the protections afforded by first amendment and free speech. They are very careful not to cross bright legal lines which would lead to any serious criminal exposure. They tend to be very active in a location for a few days with their protests and flyering, then move on to somewhere else. However, they do pose an indirect threat because an unstable lone actor could be inspired by their rhetoric. So, please exercise a heightened sense of awareness.” Remember that you can use Federation’s online incident reporting system to report any suspicious activity that might post a threat to Atlanta’s Jewish community.

Federation is home to Atlanta’s SCN program, which works around the clock to keep the entire Jewish community of Atlanta safe. Atlanta’s synagogues, day schools, nonprofit organizations, and more are all monitored by SCN.

“We are thankful for the quick response of law enforcement to the despicable acts of this weekend, and grateful for the expertise of our security team and our partners. It’s important to remember that the number of people in the world who hold such bigoted beliefs are very small, as this incident shows. The strength and resilience of Jewish Atlanta is much stronger than a tiny group of agitators,” said Federation’s President and CEO, Eric M. Robbins.

Federation and our community partners—including the ADL, Hillels of Georgia, and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) are working with law enforcement to monitor the situation in Georgia. We will be sure to alert our community with any updates.

Lani Preis
In Atlanta Jewish Community, Secure Community Network

Jewish Atlanta Turns Out in Big Numbers for Security Training

420 people attended an online security training, Countering an Active Threat, presented on Sunday by Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Neil Rabinovitz, Community Security Director, conducted the training, along with Jimi Horne, Deputy Community Security Director.

The training educated participants on how to commit to action if they encounter any type of active threat. There was a review of best practices including:

  • The definition of an active threat
  • Knowing the difference between security and safety
  • Learning the three modes of action in an active shooter incident: RUN, HIDE, FIGHT
  • Understand how to prepare for an active threat
  • The importance of additional training

One recent participant in the security trainings explains how it was memorable and how it helped them:

The information was easy to understand and there were clear suggestions on how to react to an active shooter situation.

It was so helpful to see and hear from someone who survived the Tree of Life shooting and the actions he took that saved his life. That was very compelling and memorable. Seeing videos of active shooter situations and hearing the comments of the security trainer was very helpful.

For information about upcoming security trainings, or to request a no-charge security assessment of your facility, visit Federation’s Security Planning page.

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