The protection of Synagogues, Jewish Schools and community Installations

Security and the protection of Jewish institutions has been a serious issue for the leadership of communities for many years. This is mainly due to the fact that the threat to a community touches every element in the community's existence i.e. education centers, synagogues,  private homes and even businesses owned by members of the Jewish community.   The fact that Osama Bin Laden has been assassinated by the USA increases the chances of a revenge attack on western targets worldwide with a strong possibility of community installations being a potential target.

The history of security issues in religious and community institutions goes back many decades, but, whereas in past the issues were more concerning the serving as a refuge or Safe Haven for the community when their neighbors or armies came passing by to carry out ethnic cleansing or racial discriminatory attacks; in the more modern era, the institutions have been targeted in a more "Terror" like scenario. This has been caused not only because of the "upgrading" of professionalism of the terror organizations (e.g. the Beslan school hostage crisis), but even more so because of the Jewish institutions becoming a legitimate target in the war against the western world and those that support the western world.  This can clearly be seen by the attacks on every continent of the globe against almost every religion, race and creed.

This has brought us to a situation where besides the 'usual' attacks, that in most cases range from graffiti through to stone throwing and arson. The communities now have to deal with the possibility of full scale terror attacks.

When dealing with attacks from the terrorist potential arsenal communities are facing a completely new problem and many are still struggling with how to deal with these serious concerns.  

Most communities have approached their local authorities for assistance but in most cases, even if willing, they don't have the knowledge or capability to provide adequate assistance. In other cases, certain measures of security have been implemented.

Communities around the world, have, throughout the years, focused on having either commercial security guards or volunteers from the community standing outside the institutions providing some level of security but those, although being a countermeasure for the earlier generation of attacks, are not sufficient for the new era attacks, this is especially true when it comes to large scale attacks such as car bombs. In several communities though few in numbers attention has been given to limited physical security measures like bullet proofing elements such as windows; and installing security systems, such as alarms and surveillance cameras.

In many of the cases, the feeling in the communities who have invested in physical security is that there is no assurance that the invested money was well spent.  The question that should be asked is: 'You have "security" but are you secure?'

Other Jewish communities, mainly in European cities, South Africa and Australia, have begun to take a more serious approach to dealing with security issues by using specialists to assist them in building communal security groups and protecting their installations. To date, there are a growing number of ongoing protection projects of schools, houses of worship and community centers. In these communities a new construction project of an installation will usually involve a Security and protection consultant, from the early stages of the project. These communities have come to an understanding that the cameras and commercial guards will probably not be enough to prevent or even mitigate the consequences of a serious attack.

In addition, in several projects an appropriate project plan, showing the seriousness with which the community takes the security threats has brought the local authorities to offer budget assistance or assistance in gaining approval for physical changes to the buildings. 

Why are communities not protecting themselves?

The main reasons that the majority of the communities have not invested in physical security seems to be budget constraints and also the lack of advice on what to focus on. Most communities are not aware of the fact that the budget issue becomes much less of a burden when constructing a new building. In recent projects in communities around the world it is clear that a good level of security can be achieved with limited additional cost if the security issues are addressed at an early stage. The earlier the security issues are addressed the higher the protection level that will be achieved and the lower the budget required.    

When it comes to protecting houses of worship, one of the problems is that many are centuries old, and even though the desire is to better protect the building and its occupants, it’s often unacceptable or even illegal to alter their structures with the addition of physical security elements. The requirement for a welcoming and open environment is often at odds with the levels of security that are required.

We recognize that it is necessary to provide innovative security solutions for protecting these facilities. The buildings are often empty for hours or days at a time, and then there is a sudden influx of hundreds of people for prayers or an event that is well known to a potential assailant. Many of the guests may be members or known to the community, whereas others will be friends of members or even complete strangers. It’s typical for the entrance and screening facilities to have to allow for the smooth entry of up to 2,000 people within half an hour.

Furthermore, where physical protection is necessary, places of worship often provide challenges to security planners due to their unique architectural features. The most common feature is often the extensive use of stained glass, which is highly susceptible to fragmentation (therefore causing severe injuries at the time of an attack), but does not lend itself to standard methods of blast protection. An example of the extent of the damage caused by this type of window was clearly seen in the Istanbul synagogue attack in 2003.

North America Jewish communities

The North American Jewish communities who are investing in some type of security are most of the time relying on CCTV and commercial guards which usually provides a secure feeling but does not provide the actual security required. The issue is even more serious when taking into account the fact that in the past few years, installations and individuals in the streets, community centers and education campuses (including students in universities) have been the target of attacks.

The fact that Osama Bin Laden has been assassinated by the USA and that the main terrorist organizations have declared the United States as one of their prime targets should raise concerns of linkages to community assets. This unfortunately may bring with it an increase not only of the possibility of an attack but in its level of severity as well.

This lack of action from the North America communities is highlighted especially when you see what is being done in other countries. In Australia, although there is less hatred and terror related incidents; various communities are putting in a lot of effort and funds to provide better protection to their members.

This certainly should be addressed by the leadership of communities in the USA

Why Hire a physical security consultant?

In order to answer the title to my article, I firstly need to define exactly what physical security is… according to Wikipedia – “physical security describes measures that are designed to deny access to unauthorized personnel (including attackers) from physically accessing a building, facility, resource, or stored information; and guidance on how to design structures to resist potentially hostile acts”.

Physical security is NOT a large burly man growling at people as they try to enter an installation, although once the full picture of security is analyzed, the actual security guard is an important factor as well.

Now that it is clear as to what physical security is, the question remains, why hire a physical security consultant? – There are many methods today to protect ones business, assets, home and oneself. There are many solutions such as various building methods and materials, forced entry resistance, blast mitigation, CCTV and motion detection and security guards. The amount of companies selling all these “products” are endless and each company promotes their products and services promising the most advanced systems and technologies.  Many of these companies are fly-by-nights, and many are top organizations selling high end security solutions and elements. However, their main objective is to sell as many of their products as possible. For the end user the choices are endless – The salesman will arrive at your premises, he will do a brief walk around and advise as to which is the best system to use, however he is a salesman and his goal is to sell his product. This is not to say he is dishonest, it is just that his “closing the deal” is more important than your budget and your protection.

You now have all your security elements in place; you have CCTV in every corner of the building, all doors and windows can be locked, the perimeter of the premises has all the best products and your guard at the entrance is controlling who enters/exits the premises. However you have to ask yourself the following questions:

·         What am I protecting myself against, what are the threats?

·         Are the threats realistic?

·         Have I purchased the correct products?

·         Are the security elements installed correctly and will they work?

·         Is there a correct balance between the physical, technological and human domains?

·         Have I used my budget correctly?

·         Could I have been better protected and spent less money?

·         Do my premises now look like a fortress?

·         Is my business, staff, clients, building secure?

MIP Security’s aim is to provide our clientele with holistic security that is efficient, cost effective and yet does not interfere with the aesthetics of the premises and the individual objectives of each one of our customers businesses.  Whether in the public or the private sector, there are never sufficient funds to cover all the security requirements. This means that the main obstacle preventing the increased protection level of businesses, institutions and buildings is the financing. 

The only way of determining priorities and allocating the funds is an empirical method of analyzing the threats, the sites and the consequences of any decisions made.

The question that must be asked is whether the security measures in place provide relevant security for relevant threats. In too many cases, those responsible for security budgets or operations can demonstrate all the elements and procedures that have been put in place.  They are unable, however, to describe the specific threat scenarios that the security is supposed to address, why those threat scenarios were chosen and in what way the security mitigates or prevents the threats.

Stages in our methodology include:

Data collection

·         Determine the relevant threats and their likelihood of occurrence

·         Determine priorities within the site

·         Collect demographics of the site

Site Survey

·         Human resources and procedures

·         Technology

·         Construction and physical elements

Analysis

·         Determine vulnerabilities

·         Risk assessment

Reports

·         Recommended countermeasures

·         Prioritized budget

·         Comparative costs for counter measures

Implementation

·         Technical specifications and design drawings

·         Manage and oversee implementation of accepted recommendations

Training

·         Training management, staff and security personnel in all aspects of security including procedures, case studies and scenarios (red teaming)

In conclusion

MIP Security has developed a methodology to support the decision-making process for security enhancement projects.  Use of this methodology has resulted in quantifiable benefits for our clients through the avoidance of unnecessary investments and by ensuring that funds are allocated in the most appropriate and cost-effective ways.


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