Thinking about security for houses of worship

It’s been a tough year, and security is on the mind of everyone in the religious community, including synagogues, churches, and mosques. Here’s a timely story in the Jewish News, a newspaper in the greater Phoenix area: “Security experts prep synagogues for High Holidays.”

In the last 12 months, the American Jewish community has faced rising anti-Semitism and two synagogue shootings — one of which left one person dead and the other 11. 

Now, Jewish communities are looking at security and reevaluating emergency procedures — especially with the High Holidays approaching. 

The story quotes several people, including yours truly:

The vice chair of the Phoenix police department’s Jewish advisory board, Alan Zeichick, has also been working with synagogues to help their security teams better prepare for the upcoming High Holidays. During his visits, he presents a list of ideas to encourage better communication.

“It needs to be very clear to everyone who is doing what in terms of security and to make sure everyone knows what the processes are,” Zeichick said. “One of the things I like to say is, ‘Ninety-nine percent of all the problems is communication. The other one percent is communication, but you don’t realize it.’”

Please read the article – it’s important.