By Larry Gordon
Last week, in the aftermath of the synagogue hostage situation in Texas, here on Long Island, County Executive Bruce Blakeman called together Jewish community leadership to talk about security in our shuls. Several shul rabbis, political leaders, and members of the press came to hear the plans on the drawing board, as described by Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder.
Ryder is a holdover from the previous county administration but has been proactive throughout the last four years in the Laura Curran administration and has been especially sensitive to the security requirements of the Long Island Jewish community and in particular the needs of the shuls and yeshivas in the Five Towns.
When an event occurs like the one in Texas last Shabbos, the response here in New York and probably around the country is reactive. That is, once the incident takes place there is usually an announcement from police headquarters in our respective cities that says that security patrols are being increased. But what really happens is that a patrol car might pass by a shul or yeshiva one additional time during the day. Yes, it is an increase in security, but it is essentially meaningless.
Commissioner Ryder said at last week’s meeting that his goal is not to be reactive but to take steps that are preventive. That means for our police to have a presence that prevents miscreants and those with ill intentions from committing whatever crime they are conjuring. Nowadays, those depraved plans could mean attacks on our shuls and on people easily identified as Jews, G-d forbid.
It is not prudent to detail the entire security plan, but it should be known that our police department and extensive security resources are committed to the community now and not waiting for an event like that in Texas to occur.
To that end, the commissioner said that around the county we can expect to see more cops on the street visiting our shuls and yeshivas and getting to know neighborhood people. We might be able to consider the new plan as a cross between what was once referred to as the “beat cop” and what we now call “enhanced security.”
In many parts of the country, shuls and yeshivas have long ago begun to employ their own security apparatuses that work in tandem with local police. The divide on the matter of shul security is that some shuls go to the maximum on security while others are simply neglecting what many consider a necessity these days.
According to one official who belongs to a group that provides security for a series of shuls in the Five Towns and elsewhere, “It’s better to have security and not need it than to not have it.”
And Commissioner Ryder pointed out an additional series of steps that the Nassau County police are taking to protect all citizens who reside in the county. He pointed out that his department works in close coordination with both the New York City Police Department and the FBI. He said that when an assault and hostage situation like the one in Texas takes place, the department goes on alert to anticipate copycat types of acts.
Commissioner Ryder and County Executive Blakeman said that there are no credible threats to any of our community institutions or neighborhoods. They did say, though, that they are always on the lookout for “lone wolf” type of characters, not dissimilar to the Texas terrorist who was not affiliated with any known group.
Commissioner Ryder said that there is a special app that can be used by key people in shuls, for example, that immediately connects the caller to an emergency 911 operator. This number bypasses what could be a delay of several minutes as there is sometimes a queue even for 911 emergency calls.
While the police are always on alert and ready to spring into action, here in our communities the Rockaway Nassau Security Patrol (RNSP) has become the eyes and ears of the city police department in Far Rockaway as well as the NCPD on Long Island.
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Shulem Klein, the director of RNSP, told me about a new phone that is available for installation in shuls. The phone features just three buttons—one connects to 911, one directly to Hatzalah, and the third button to RNSP.
Shulem adds that there are RNSP members who belong to most of our local shuls and that if your shul does not have a member of the patrol, a representative of the shul should sign up and join. Shulem says that there is a feeling of additional security when there is someone in the shul with security training who can sense when something is amiss or out of the ordinary.
Aside from the heightened police presence in the community, the RNSP does regular daily and nightly security patrols. There are both marked and unmarked cars on the streets of Far Rockaway and the Five Towns seven days a week. The Friday-night patrol vehicles are driven by non-Jews hired by the RNSP. All others are volunteers.
Avi Pinto, an auxiliary police officer for the 4th Precinct of NCPD, adds that as part of the police department, they patrol regularly in uniform and in county police vehicles, assisting in intensive patrols that help protect our schools and houses of worship. Though they are volunteers as well, auxiliary police members go through police academy, and even when they are not on duty, they are still actively keeping watch while going about their daily lives.
The key to keeping everyone safe, according to the NCPD and RNSP, is the knowledge that our institutions have visible security as well as security that cannot be detected but is very much there.
At the security briefing last week, it was pointed out that it is advisable for shuls that cannot be identified as shuls on the exterior to keep their window shades closed so that outsiders or those looking to make trouble cannot see inside.
Again, Commissioner Ryder and County Executive Blakeman said there is no current threat but that it is vital to be aware and prepared. They do not want to panic people, but it is important to note that the Texas terrorist was a typical lone wolf that came out of nowhere with no warning. He was one person who may have been mentally unstable, but he evaded immigration authorities and arrived in New York, and to date there has been no information released about how he traveled from New York to Colleyville, Texas.
We all follow the news, and we know that immigrants have traveled across the U.S.–Mexican border during the last year from 120 different countries, including Yemen and Libya. And in many thousands of cases, U.S. authorities have lost track of these illegal immigrants.
At the meeting, Bruce Blakeman pointed out that his predecessor, Ms. Curran, removed ICE from Nassau County prisons, which made it additionally difficult to identify those with criminal pasts who are here illegally.
These are the combined elements of a potential lone wolf type of attack. To that end, our police and private security organizations are always on high alert. As far as the RNSP is concerned, they can always use material support from residents to update their training and keep us and our streets safe.
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