6 | DECEMBER 29 • 2022 1942 - 2022 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week To make a donation to the DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION go to the website www.djnfoundation.org The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is published every Thursday at 32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, Farmington Hills, Michigan. Periodical postage paid at Southfield, Michigan, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send changes to: Detroit Jewish News, 32255 Northwestern Highway, #205, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334 MISSION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will be of service to the Jewish community. The Detroit Jewish News will inform and educate the Jewish and general community to preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel. 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Suite 205, Farmington Hills, MI 48334 248-354-6060 thejewishnews.com Publisher The Detroit Jewish News Foundation | Board of Directors: Chair: Gary Torgow Vice President: David Kramer Secretary: Robin Axelrod Treasurer: Max Berlin Board members: Larry Jackier, Jeffrey Schlussel, Mark Zausmer Senior Advisor to the Board: Mark Davidoff Alene and Graham Landau Archivist Chair: Mike Smith Founding President & Publisher Emeritus: Arthur Horwitz Founding Publisher Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory Editorial Director of Editorial: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@thejewishnews.com Contributing Editors: David Sachs, Keri Guten Cohen Staff Reporter: Danny Schwartz dschwartz@thejewishnews.com Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@thejewishnews.com Digital Manager: Elizabeth King eking@thejewishnews.com Contributing Writers: Nate Bloom, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Shari S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Louis Finkelman, Stacy Gittleman, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, Robin Schwartz, Mike Smith, Steve Stein, Julie Smith Yolles, Ashley Zlatopolsky Advertising Sales Director of Advertising: Keith Farber kfarber@thejewishnews.com Senior Account Executive: Kathy Harvey-Mitton kmitton@thejewishnews.com | Business Office Director of Operations: Amy Gill agill@thejewishnews.com Operations Manager: Andrea Gusho agusho@thejewishnews.com Operations Assistant: Ashlee Szabo Circulation: Danielle Smith Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner | Production By Farago & Associates Manager: Scott Drzewiecki Designers: Kaitlyn Iezzi, Kelly Kosek, Deborah Schultz, Michelle Sheridan PURELY COMMENTARY guest column Community Security is Taken Seriously M uch has been written about the antisemitic incident that occurred at Temple Beth El on Dec. 2. As both a Bloomfield Township Trustee and a Board member of Jewish Community Security Inc. (JCSI), and formerly a board member of Michigan ADL, I can provide a different perspective on the incident. In the guest column “A Tour de Force” (Dec. 15), the author commends the community for “the strong, fearless and united front” on “calls, texts, emails and social media platforms.” While I agree that our community must share threat information, the unintended consequence is the spread of misinformation that occurs when the proverbial game of “telephone” is amplified by social media. When I received my first phone call at about 10 a.m., I was told that a man hurled epithets and made direct threats toward the families in the parking lot, including using his vehicle as a weapon — an already exaggerated story. This narrative continued to compound all day, which led to many false and inaccurate reports made to police. The hysteria caused by misinformation initially slowed the police response as they had to decipher which reports were consistent with the video footage received from the temple and ultimately the perpetrator’s own video. As difficult as it may be, we must balance the need for timely information with the need for accuracy. I also want to correct the record regarding the author’s statement that “no immediate action seemed to be taking place.” Law enforcement does not disseminate its activities in real-time, which is understandably frustrating especially in light of the heinous videos being posted by the suspect and the misinformation going around. Within two minutes of the initial call from temple security, officers were on-scene interviewing witnesses while other officers executed a traffic stop to identify the suspect. Simultaneously, calls were made to both the Dearborn Police and FBI to gather information about him. Detectives immediately began investigating and every available resource was brought to bear. As a precaution, surveillance was attached to the suspect from shortly after he left the temple until the moment he was taken into custody. He was not allowed to become a threat anywhere else. In just 12 hours, a full report was submitted to the prosecutor and, by Sunday morning, her office issued charges for two felonies. Upon our recommendation, Dearborn Police took the suspect into protective custody early on Saturday morning and held him until Bloomfield Township officers formally arrested him on Sunday. The Bloomfield Township Police took the incident extremely seriously and devoted hundreds of man-hours to the case, regularly communicating with JCSI, myself and other Township leadership. Michael Schostak