Rarely does a day pass when Phil Niedringhaus doesn’t get an alert on his phone about some sort of threat or anti-Semitic act at a synagogue, Jewish school or organization within a three-state region.
“We’re busy,” says Niedringhaus. “There’s always something that needs our attention.
“Anti-Semitic incidents have skyrocketed, and we need to maintain vigilance.”
Niedringhaus is regional director for the Secure Community Network, which monitors such threats among 114 Jewish synagogues, schools and nonprofits in Colorado. He was previously regional safety and security initiative director at JEWISHcolorado.
A former FBI agent, Niedringhaus, responsible for Jewish organizations in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, facilitates responses to any threats and offers guidance on security protocols and staff training.
Last week, parents at a local preschool raised concerns with school administrators about school security. Niedringhaus was asked to be a sounding board.
“In the post Oct. 7 world, there’s a lot of high anxiety in the community, and probably the largest portion of that is from parents of kids in some of the schools.”
Properly securing synagogues and schools is a costly endeavor. The line item on budgets is commonly referred to as an “anti-Semitism tax,” which initially appeared after the October, 2018 attack on a synagogue complex in Pittsburgh, and has risen since the Oct. 7 invasion of Israel by Hamas.
Often, synagogues and Jewish schools pay for that “tax” by assessing members a security fee.
Temple Sinai in southeast Denver considers itself aggressive in the security world. It charges families a $118 yearly assessment toward security costs. Non-members who have children in Sinai’s preschool are charged $65 monthly.
Sinai has 870 households. That’s an annual tax earmarked for security costs of well over six figures.
“We experienced several things since the war started,” says Temple Sinai executive director Lisa Thorner, “so we take every measure possible to make sure the kiddos and all of our congregants are safe.”
Located on Hampden Ave., Temple Sinai borders a heavily-trafficked area. The shul already has security gates around most of the campus. Plans are in the works to completely gate the main entrance, with the gate opening only through a phone app available to congregants and families of school students.
“We have an armed security guard here, no matter when the building is open, and we have two security personnel during Bar and Bat Mitzvahs,” says Thorner. “The High Holidays, more than that.
“I have never felt threatened, and having armed security puts people at ease, especially in the crazy world we live in.
“I’m surprised that there are congregants of other synagogues who don’t demand it. But then, you also have to look at the financial aspect of things.”
With its significant member roster, Sinai is able to generate significant capital to offset security costs. Other organizations are not able to be as robust about their security protocols.
Some synagogues and preschools, while they may have secure doors with password entry systems, may not be able to afford security personnel.
The price for an off duty police presence, or a security officer from a private firm, can exceed $100 an hour.
Zev Friedman, who works for Citadel Security and consults many Jewish organizations in Denver and throughout Colorado, says an armed security presence should be the first priority for a synagogue or school.
“There are things called ‘target hardening,’ looking at the building, looking at your windows, your gates, your fences, your doors, your locks, even sometimes the roof — all that is included in a risk assessment I make.
“The only thing in the world that’s going to stop an armed threat is another armed person,” says Friedman, who was in IDF Special Forces in 2014.
“If you have any kind of deterrence around your building, a bad guy is going to go find another building that doesn’t have that.
“You could have the fanciest, Rolls Royce of camera systems in your building, but cameras are not going to stop someone from coming in and doing something. A door might, a security guard might, a fence might.
These kinds of things will stop somebody, so it’s about managing budgets and putting money in the right places.”
That includes increasing pay rates for security guards.
“Nobody wants a guy who’s armed in front of your building who’s getting paid minimum wage,” says Friedman.
“You want someone who’s well paid, who’s motivated to be there. You’re going to have to pay a little bit of money to get that.”
Institutions like Hillel Academy rely on the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which is run by the Dept. of Homeland Security.
Grants of up to $150,000 are awarded when funds are earmarked for security improvements, though synagogues, schools and nonprofits cannot rely on receiving the grant on a yearly basis.
“It’s definitely been very helpful,” says Mordechai Hoffman, executive director at Hillel. “It doesn’t cover costs like security guards, but it covers target hardening and improvements to the building.”
Hoffman estimates that Hillel Academy, with over 300 students, spends about 2.5% of its yearly budget on security. Hillel had recently made capital improvements prior to Oct. 7.
“We definitely try to do as much as we can, and as we saw on Oct. 7, even the best laid plans and systems have weaknesses,” says Hoffman, “so we just have to constantly try and stay one step ahead.”
When asked if he feels those at the Academy feel safe, Hoffman replies:
“I hope so.”
Many synagogues around the country easily spend more than $100,000 annually on security costs. Most Jewish institutions prefer not to divulge where their resources are deployed, especially locations of security cameras in and around respective preschools.
Many of Denver’s synagogues and Jewish institutions have security gates surrounding their campuses. A majority do not. In some cities, like Houston, security gates surround almost every high profile Jewish organization.
For Niedringhaus, whose Secure Community Network is supported by JEWISHcolorado, there is always some assistance available that doesn’t rely on an institution’s financial wherewithal.
“We offer services to anybody that wants it,” says Niedringhaus. “We have all sorts of resources, low cost or no cost security upgrades, ways to improve security without spending a lot of money.
“We encourage organizations to apply for the nonprofit security grants and state grants, but there’s also ways that you can improve your safety and security, like simply controlling access to who has access to your facility.
“We recognize something like an armed security presence is a very high expense. If a synagogue can’t afford that or doesn’t want to do that right now, there are other things you can do to still increase security, making sure that your, your doors are secure and not wide open.”
As Hillel’s Mordechai Hoffman says: “It’s a cost of doing business that, unfortunately, we have to take on.”
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