August 13, 1999/1 Elul 5759, Vol. 51, No.45
Security at JCCs re-examinedFrom staff and wire reportsJewish institutions across America are re-evaluating their security in the wake of this week's shooting at a Los Angeles-area Jewish community center that left five injured, three of them young children.A gunman wielding a 9-millimeter automatic weapon burst into the lobby of the North Valley Jewish Community Center Tuesday morning, Aug. 10, fired up to 70 shots and wounded three children, a teenage girl and a 68-year-old woman. On Wednesday, suspect Buford O'Neal Furrow, 37, turned himself in to authorities in Las Vegas. A source told the Associated Press that the suspect told investigators that he "wanted this to be a wake-up call to America to kill Jews." Tuesday's shooting, which came shortly before 11 a.m., comes on the heels of two other attacks that shook the Jewish community. On June 18, arsonists set fire to three northern California synagogues. Two weeks later, on July 2, a gunman near Chicago shot six Jews during a shooting spree aimed at minorities. After Tuesday's attack, the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America immediately put out an action alert to the 275 centers, urging them to beef up security and contact their local law enforcement authorities, according to Robin Ballin, marketing director of the association. "We had no reason to think that something like this could happen. We had no indications," said Jeff Rouss, executive director of the North Valley JCC. "We have stepped up security at our other sites," Rouss said. All Jewish community centers receive a security manual from the national JCCA. The shooting has brought security issues to the forefront in other communities, including the Phoenix area. Fred Zeidman, director of planning for the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, said security measures for a planned Jewish Community Campus were already under consideration prior to the Los Angeles shooting spree. But the incident brings home serious issues that local officials will continue to grapple with, he said. "At some point - and I don't think you ever get through the emotion - but once things settle, we would like to learn more about security so we can incorporate it into what we're doing," said Zeidman. "Now, we're still at the conceptual stage, and we know we'll have a security desk (and take usual precautions with regard to locks)." Details are still being worked out for the rest of the campus, but it's likely that only people with special access will be able to enter a child-care center planned for the campus, Zeidman added. "The difficulty is how do you balance what you want to be - an inviting, open campus - with real security needs that exist? That's the art and the science." Tuesday's shooting incident and its repercussions were the focus of a news conference organized by Valley Jewish leaders on Wednesday, Aug. 11, at the preschool of Temple Chai in Phoenix. "We are working very closely with representatives of the Phoenix Police Department," Valley of the Sun JCC Director Mark Shore said at the gathering. "We're working with federation and other security personnel to guarantee primarily and foremost, the safety of and security of ... anyone in our facilities." He said measures are being evaluated to "insure that everyone who utilizes our services and programs can continue to do so." "Our people are safe, and will continue to be safe. We won't curtail programming. There's no need to curtail programming," Shore said. Detective Sebon White, of the Phoenix Police Department's community response squad, said local police will remain vigilant in the wake of the Los Angeles shootings. "We will continue to insure that the community is safe, schools are safe and synagogues are safe," White said. Shore said there have been no recent threats to area Jewish organizations, but he received about a dozen calls from concerned parents in the aftermath of Tuesday's shootings. As the Valley's JCC preschool gears up for orientation in two weeks, Shore said the school will be having a drill so that staff members know what to do if a similar emergency occurs here. Local synagogues are also taking precautions. "We're taking this very seriously," said Rabbi William Berk of Temple Chai, "and we're not only increasing security since (Tuesday), but we're taking a very serious look at how we're going to manage the opening of schools, how we're going to manage the High Holidays. ... As would be expected, we're very shook up by this." Rabbi Robert Kravitz, area director of the American Jewish Committee, called on all Valley Jewish organizations to be vigilant. "It is absolutely critical that Jewish organizations and Jewish facilities, wherever they are, have a crisis management plan. That plan would indicate who the spokesperson is, it would indicate how they communicate, with whom they communicate, and in what way," said Kravitz. "And that plan needs to be rehearsed and known by every single person who is in charge of that facility, synagogue, office, or whatever it may be," he added. "That's the best way to be assured that when domestic terrorism occurs - and it will occur again - that people are prepared." Following the Sacramento synagogue fires, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella organization, issued a "security reminder" to its member agencies. "Tragic events such as this one remind us of the need to adhere to routine, common sense security precautions following the attack," the memo said. Jewish News staff writer Tami Bickley and Jewish Telegraphic Agency contributed to this report. |
