By JESSICA ANDERSON
As I write this, I’m flying back from the 2024 Homeland Security Summit, an (almost) annual meeting of community security directors from across the US and Canada. This group consists of over 100 security professionals responsible for working with Jewish communities on issues of safety and security. It’s been two years since we met, as the 2023 conference was canceled due to the 10/7 Hamas attack – a time when we all needed to remain in our communities. We stay connected during the year, but the conference is a unique time when we come together in person.  I know that it makes a difference to me and that the time improves how I do my job throughout the year. 
This group of security directors and analysts consists of Secure Community Network (SCN) employees and those employed directly by their Federations. As a combined group, we cover 78 different geographic regions, but with SCN’s regional security director program, no Jewish community lacks access to security resources. 
Our week together featured a variety of speakers and topics. We heard national law enforcement leaders speak on the current threat landscape. We were also briefed on the new standards we’ll be expected to meet - a result of collaboration between the Jewish Federation of North America (JFNA) and SCN that established 57 industry standards related to quality security programs (stay tuned for a future article about this).
We received an overview of the security planning for the summer Maccabi games in Detroit which is the largest gathering of Jewish youth in the world; heard best practices from the Colleyville synagogue hostage-taking in 2021 and learned a cyber expert’s take on virtual best practices.
The speakers who stood out were those who added tools to my toolbox that will improve how I approach my work. A standout was former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher, who provided recommendations on how to manage and respond to incidents (stay tuned for a future article about this, too!). I’m occasionally called upon to sit for interviews with local reporters, and I’m pretty much always terrified that I’ll mess them up. But I’m going to start using Fleisher’s recommendations and hope to up my game in that area. 
SCN’s Director of Security for Hillel provided an overview of the challenges students are having on campus. She contrasted last year with this year and noted that nationwide campuses have been much quieter. The anniversary of 10/7 saw only 75 campus incidents – a total success in the eyes of the Hillel security program. SCN also developed a new safety and security training program focused on the needs of college students.  The course highlights include working through scenarios of being followed, confrontations by fellow students, and being targeted in classes. I’ll be rolling this out in the next couple of weeks and offering it to campus communities across the state. 
Multiple breakout sessions (one by Federation size and the other by city size) were some of the most valuable. This is where we hear what’s working for each security director – how they maximize training opportunities, how they improve their services, and all kinds of best practices they’ve developed. The other highlight  is simply spending time together – checking in on how the family is doing, learning something new about them, sharing laughs, and deepening relationships. It was a great week of improving professionally and connecting personally. This is the best part of getting together in person, and I’m grateful you allow me the time away to attend.