jews in the d

R TE S Y

Federation works with Israeli startup headed by
native Detroiter to enhance community safety.

COU

Jewish Detroit
to Get New
Security Devices

Gabriel
emergency
panic button

JACKIE HEADAPOHL MANAGING EDITOR

T

he Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit is working with Gabriel, a Tel
Aviv-based startup company, to develop
and install security devices in a number of build-
ings throughout the community.
Founded in 2016, Gabriel has created an easy-
to-use solution for so-called “soft targets,” such
as synagogues, community centers and schools.
While the system will not prevent attacks, it will
help speed and coordinate the response to an
attack to significantly minimize the impact and
save lives.

GABRIEL’S DETROIT ROOTS
Gabriel CEO and co-founder Yoni
Sherizen, son of Dov and Esther
Sherizen, grew up in Oak Park as
a member of Young Israel of Oak
Park. He attended Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah for grade school and
Akiva for high school. After high
Yoni Sherizen
school, he studied in Jerusalem for
a gap year, which became two, got
a degree in history at Yeshiva University in New
York, and then rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva
University, mostly at its Jerusalem campus.
“Then I did the Jewish communal service
thing, ran organizations, etc., and moved into
business two years ago,” said Sherizen, now 40.
He made aliyah nine years ago. “I was raised in
a family where aliyah was always a strong ideal
and even a plan at various stages,” he said. “While
it’s really hard being so far away from the family
in Michigan, I constantly have a sense we are ful-
filling a shared dream.”
Sherizen said he was motivated to start Gabriel
by the June 2016 mass shooting at Tel Aviv’s
Sarona Market and the murder of 49 people at
the Pulse nightclub in Orlando days later.
“My co-founder and I looked at how we could
leverage technology to save lives in these sorts of
situations,” he said. “We believed that they would
only become more frequent and we needed to
create a solution that helped people get to safety

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November 22 • 2018

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and first responders to act faster and smarter.”
Unfortunately, mass shootings have become
almost commonplace in America. As of Nov.
13, there had been 309 mass shootings in the
U.S. this year, according to the nonprofit Gun
Violence Archive, including the shooting at
Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and the
Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks,
Calif.
“In events like that, the casualty rate skyrockets
with every passing minute. If you can help people
instantly get to safety, alert them of the danger,
alert authorities and provide emergency services
with real-time information on how to deal with
the crisis, you can dramatically change the way
these things unfold,” Sherizen said.
Gabriel’s crisis platform integrates three critical
components:
• A physical device placed on the wall of the
building that serves both as a panic button to
alert first responders, police and building occu-
pants, and also as a video and audio communica-
tion hub if other communication services fail to
alert the authorities.
• A smartphone application that enables users
to declare an emergency, alert others and contin-
ue to share critical, real-time information from
the scene.
• An intuitive command and control dash-
board that enables real-time crisis management.
Available both as a web and smartphone appli-
cation, the dashboard provides direct video and
audio feeds and a dynamic site map.
The easy-to-install starter kits cost $10,000.
Depending on the size and makeup of the com-
munity building, it would cost between $20,000-
$30,000 to fully outfit a location, Sherizen said.

DETROIT FEDERATION
FIRST TO USE TECHNOLOGY
Sherizen connected with Federation’s Director of
Community-Wide Security Gary Sikorski almost
two years ago. “We were in stealth mode and
only talking to people who were real experts and

we could trust,” Sherizen said.
“Gary was both an invaluable
resource and a potentially interest-
ed customer from the first conver-
sation.”
Professional and lay leaders
from Federation decided to work
Gary Sikorski
with Gabriel after an extensive
evaluation process, including
the opportunity to offer significant input into
the Gabriel design. A successful 2017 pilot pro-
gram at the Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield and Farber Hebrew Day School in
Southfield was undertaken.
Based on the success of the test, Federation
has pre-ordered 25 units to place in buildings
throughout the community, including Jewish
schools, senior centers and other communal sites.
The units will be produced and installed over the
coming months. Detroit will be the first Jewish
community to adopt the technology.
Sikorski said that implementation of the
Gabriel system is just another step in the ongoing
process of assessing and refining Federation’s
overall community-wide security approach.
“While the recent tragedy in Pittsburgh is
certainly a reminder of the importance of contin-
uous and vigilant security, the reality is that the
safety of the community has been a longstanding
priority, and our focus and strategy have not
changed,” Sikorski said.
Deployment of the Gabriel system is being
funded by the Federation and participating orga-
nizations, as well as through public and private
grants. Once the initial units are installed and
fully functional, additional organizations within
the community will be invited to participate in
the program, according to Federation Security
Committee Chair Mark Adler.
“We see Gabriel as an important complement
to our community-wide security efforts — spe-
cifically as a way to use technology to improve
response, coordinate with law enforcement and
potentially save lives during a crisis.” ■

