The Secure Community Network, the official safety and security organization of The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, has opened a new National Jewish Security Operations Command Center that it describes as “state of the art.”
The Chicago-based facility provides a high-tech, centralized location that allows SCN’s team of intelligence analysts and security professionals to monitor and track threats to the community, coordinate responses with partners – to include local, state and federal law enforcement – and provide incident as well as crisis management support, according to a news release. The center integrates SCN’s proprietary stack of technology platforms used to protect the community and can operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Custom designed based on an extensive review of public and private best practices, the command center includes a sixteen-foot video wall to allow for optimal incident tracking and response, workstations and complete audio/visual capabilities for live or recorded briefings, presentations, and webinars. It can seat up to 8 individuals at once and has overflow capacity to accommodate additional staff during an incident response.
“The JSOCC is the most advanced facility of its kind singularly devoted to the safety and security of the North American Jewish community,” said Michael Masters, national director and CEO of SCN. “This allows us to have a central location for the community, security officials and our partners, to include law enforcement, to report, coordinate and protect the Jewish Community. It’s a significant resource we will use to protect the community.”
“We heard the message loud and clear – more needs to be done to protect the Jewish community,” Masters added. “This facility is a significant step forward in protecting our people.”
In 2020, SCN`s Operations Center and Duty Desk saw an approximately 125% increase in reporting of incidents and issues related to the Jewish community. Additionally, the F.B.I reported nearly 60% of religiously motivated hate crimes targeted Jews, even though Jews are just 2% of the American population. This dynamic threat environment required an enhancement in technology platforms and resources, and this facility will provide it.
The JSOCC was fully operational for the High Holy Days and monitored and analyzed intelligence and reports nonstop for 24 hours a day.
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