By Emily K. Alhadeff, Assistant Editor, JTNews
On August 29 five Jewish organizations from King and Pierce Counties were awarded Nonprofit Security Grants from the Department of Homeland Security.
Chabad of Pierce County, Northwest Yeshiva High School, Temple Beth El in Tacoma, Temple B’nai Torah and Temple De Hirsch Sinai each received grants to improve their security systems. Only two other local organizations, Pacific Lutheran University and Pierce College, received funds.
The Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which was instituted by Congress in 2005, awards funds to nonprofit organizations like community centers, places of worship, hospitals and schools that are deemed at-risk for targeting by terrorists or other radical extremists. This year the granting organization had $18,962,000 to mete out across the country.
Homeland Security identifies 11 tier-one and 20 tier-two urban areas inside of which nonprofit organizations may apply for up to $75,000 in funding for target-hardening equipment. The Seattle metro area, which extends from Snohomish to Pierce County, falls into a tier-two urban area.
The Jewish Federations of North America and the Orthodox Union were involved in the push to establish the grant program. According to a Jewish Federations of North America press release, this year more than 80 percent of the awards went to Jewish organizations. The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle aids synagogues and Jewish organizations in the application process.
Homeland Security measures eligibility using the criteria of identification and substantiation (such as police reports), prior threats of attacks, the symbolic value of the site, the role of the organization in recovering from or responding to attacks, and results of risk assessments.
“After Mumbai, we’re somewhat concerned on a general level,” said Rabbi Shneur Zalman Heber of the Chabad of Pierce County, located in Tacoma. The Chabad just broke ground on a synagogue, which is due for completion April 2012. “It’s important after the Federation shooting that the government recognizes the need for our protection,” he added.
Larry Broder, executive director of Temple De Hirsch Sinai, echoed this sentiment. “You receive the occasional call. We’ve had suspicious packages that merit calling the authorities,” he said. “Anytime there’s a threat to any one Jewish institution in the Seattle area, other organizations need to consider that as a potential. You don’t know if it is a single instance or coordinated.
“If you look at Mumbai,” he added, “that was all planned out.”
Each of the Jewish organizations received the full amount of $75,000, except for Beth El, which received $2,350. This is Temple De Hirsch’s third round of receiving a security grant.
According to Sierra Wardell, the Emergency Operations Center Program Coordinator for the Washington Military Department, 18 organizations applied for funding this year, 13 of which were Jewish organizations. Grants were determined by how well organizations demonstrated their risk for attack as well as their need for target-hardening equipment, such as cameras, monitoring, physical access control, card key access, window glazing and lighting.
“Everyone who receives the money is very deserving,” said Wardell. With organizations become more secure, members of the organizations can also rest assured, she said.
“Not only are they hardening their security,” added Wardell, “they’re becoming more aware of how to handle situations, too.” Wardell said that grantees may opt for trainings in addition.
“Those [first] two grants enabled us to do a number of things on our Seattle campus, including video cameras with the recordability, fencing and gates, access control, and what they call ‘target hardening efforts,’” said Broder. This year, the temple plans to complete the security projects started in the past and to train staff on their new roles as administrators of the technology. “We’re having to adapt our staffing behaviors accordingly.”
It should come as no surprise that the Northwest Yeshiva High School on Mercer Island received the full amount of funding. Last fall, just before Yom Kippur, vandals spray-painted anti-Semitic graffiti on the walls. In the spring, an 85-year-old man was shoved to the ground in an attempted robbery in the parking lot.
Patrick Young, NYHS’s business manager, explained that the funds would be put toward expanding security camera coverage and installing high-impact, shatter-resistant windows. According to Young, police advised them, “The more cameras you can get, the better.” All of the perpetrators of last year’s crimes were positively identified on camera and brought to justice.
Increasing the security of Jewish organizations not only keeps the Jewish community safer, but it also has potential for securing the community-at-large from general threats.
As for the parking-lot robber, “It turned out this individual had committed several other crimes on the island,” said Young.