Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County's security initiative aims to prevent hate crimes

The launch comes on the heels of multiple incidents in the Jewish community, including recent crimes against four pedestrians who were walking in Monsey earlier this month.

News 12 Staff

Jul 29, 2022, 12:34 AM

Updated 798 days ago

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The Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County announced Thursday the launch of a first-of-its-kind security initiative.
The launch comes on the heels of multiple incidents in the Jewish community, including recent crimes against four pedestrians who were walking in Monsey earlier this month.
"We've begun our outreach to institutions across Rockland," said Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County CEO Ari Rosenblum.
"What's troubling is we have to deal with hate in this county. We can't ignore it," said Rockland County Executive Ed Day.
However, this unique security infrastructure has been years in the making and is now in action under the director of security Ethan Erlich.
"I'll be doing physical security assessments at the different institutions and will offer training like 'Stop the Bleed' training and active threat training," Erlich said.
These will take place at schools, shuls, Jewish community centers, camps and museums with the help of Rockland leaders.
"Making sure we have communal safety," said District Attorney Tom Walsh. "We'll do everything in our power that everything works well."
Leaders are hopeful that change will follow.
"This community continues to be under threat, but it is strong when together and if this makes it stronger then it's worthwhile," Rosenblum added.
The Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County plans to also share the progress and the security infrastructure itself for other regions to implement in their communities.