COME DISCOVER THE FRANKEL DIFFERENCE
Keeping the Tent Open
FRANKEL JEWISH ACADEMY
Detroit Jews need to balance security concerns
with an open and welcoming culture.
JACKIE HEADAPOHL MANAGING EDITOR
J
ewish America may have changed
on Saturday, Oct. 27, when 11
worshippers were gunned down at
a Pittsburgh synagogue, but the per-
spective of the Security Department of
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit is the same as it was the day
before the horrific attack.
“Our recommendations are still the
same,” said Gary Sikorski, director of
community-wide security. “You should
practice vigilance and you should be
aware of your surroundings. Target
hardening (strengthen-
ing of a building’s securi-
ty), access control, secu-
rity cameras — these are
things that we recom-
mend all the time, not
just in reaction to some-
thing like Pittsburgh.”
Sikorski
Detroit is one of the
earliest federations to have a full-time
security director and has one of the
more robust security programs in the
country. Sikorski helped train Brad
Orsini, the Federation security director
in Pittsburgh, spending a day with him
last year when he was new to the job.
The network of federation security
professionals, the Community Secure
Network, is constantly sharing best
practices with one another, he added.
A team of eight full-time employ-
ees oversees security at the local day
schools, Camp Tamarack, the Jewish
Community Center and United Jewish
Foundation-owned properties. It does
not provide direct security for syna-
gogues and temples. However, it does
act as a resource, providing training
and advising them on security concerns
or grant opportunities.
“We work hand in hand,” Sikorski
said.
For example, last week, with help
from Federation, the Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah schools, Yeshivas Darchei
Torah and Frankel Jewish Academy
received grant money from the
Michigan State Police School Safety
Grant program for improving safety
measures.
LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
The Federation enjoys a good rela-
tionship with law enforcement. “We’re
wired in with state, local and federal
law enforcement and share informa-
tion, best practices and training oppor-
tunities,” Sikorski said.
The relationship
between law enforce-
ment and the Jewish
community, in gener-
al, in this area is very
strong, according to
Ingber
Federation COO Steve
Ingber.
“On Oct. 27, we were in touch with
FBI and Homeland Security,” he said.
“We heard from many of the local
sheriffs and police chiefs asking us if
we needed anything. Law
enforcement was imme-
diately able to patrol
more throughout our
community that day.”
Added Scott Kaufman,
Federation CEO, “The
local municipalities are
Kaufman
very willing to step up. In
the near term, anyway, you’re going to
see a different presence than normal.”
SYNAGOGUE SECURITY
Sikorski suggests a layered approach to
synagogue security, such as target hard-
ening, access control and security cam-
eras. “A lot more people are considering
the inconvenience of having access con-
trol,” he said. “In the past, they weren’t
too keen on the idea of having that
interruption upon entry. But there are
many different ways to employ these
security measures.”
For example, an “active” access con-
trol system would mean that a person
would need to choose to let each per-
son in. A “passive” system would leave
the door open but allow someone to
immediately lock it if they saw some-
body threatening approach. “There are
a lot of options,” Sikorski said.
He says more synagogues are consid-
ering armed guards as well. “But that
should be part of a layered system,” he
said. “If you have just an armed guard,
you’re expecting him to win a gun fight.
What if he doesn’t? If you have these
other measures in place, you’re hoping
to avoid the gunfight in the first place.”
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November 8 • 2018
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