The Real MVP – Preventing Another Poway
Ask any Shliach or Shlucha who their most valuable person or MVP might be for their location and we all know their response could represent the gamut of the community. It might be Kiddush organizers, kids program directors or simply typical helpful site members who want to enhance your efforts and atmosphere.
A solid infrastructure is critical to the daily operations of a successful Chabad location, large or small. Part of that infrastructure for ensuring robust daily operations has to include security.
Sadly, since Mumbai in 2008 and with a significant uptick in reported attacks, pre-attack information gathering has reached an all-time high. Thankfully, there are systems to detect and deter such behavior.
Chabad is envied the world over for amazing successes with programs that ignite Jewish pride and keep that flame going wherever they are. Security is now a line item in any operational budget to ensure safety and continuity of that success and ongoing programs that the community has become to rely upon. It does not have to be high cost, and indeed, there are low to no cost items that can be put into place.
The American Jewish community is so advanced in volunteer and support systems such as Hatzalah, Chaverim, Shomrim and Bikur Cholim. However, the community is still behind in realizing the need and providing proactive security akin to what we see in Europe and wherever other major Jewish communities are established. These other communities have proven for decades that effective security is both insourced (volunteers and paid staff) and outsourced (paid private security and law enforcement).
Our counterpart community security organizations in the UK (CST), South Africa (CSO), Australia (CSG), among others have perfected the use of trained and experienced volunteers. The insourcing of security, along with cultivated outsourced long term law enforcement and private security partnerships have created layered security that is well drilled and practiced. Volunteers are onsite, are coachable, insurable and most vitally controllable, with systems in place. This can save your site tens of thousands of dollars in costs and ensures you have real and effective security for all the events in your calendar.
Using the volunteer system, every visitor (known or otherwise), can be comfortably screened, greeted and welcomed into your community. Your community, in turn, knows who belongs and who does not. The answer to the question of “how do I maintain an open and welcoming environment, while also ensuring a safe and secure environment” is answered by the volunteer security infrastructure that also incorporates training for the Shliach and Shlucha, their kids and site staff. Your MVP’s are your trained and insured security volunteers.
After Parkland, Pittsburgh, Poway and more recently Halle, Chabad Shluchim now understand the need to integrate security protocols as part of their daily operations. Utilizing skills, Chabad locations can learn to deter, detect, delay and defend utilizing your MVP community members, site staff and local law enforcement at no to low cost.
The CSO will be giving an exclusive Kinus workshop to Chabad Shluchim on Thursday, November 21st at 4:45 pm covering low to no cost enhancements, systems and items to make your Chabad location allowing a warm and welcoming atmosphere while incorporating common-sense Israeli, European and American security and screening techniques using MVP’s. For details please email info@thecso.org.
Zalman Myer-Smith is the Director of Security for Lubavitch Educational Center and Chabad of Florida. He is also the Executive Director of the Community Security Organization (www.thecso.org)
