Now that the High Holidays are over, I’m happy to share that my weekly safety and security training series is back on Zoom. Here’s the link so you can head over there right now and register! https://jewishportland.org/events/security-training. I’ve spoken before about the challenges of reaching individual community members to let them know about my position, how I can be a resource for them, and to provide safety and security training. Training is a major part of my job - it’s a huge focus within the Secure Community Network (SCN), and it’s somewhat challenging in that I can’t force community members to take training classes, and I can’t compel organizations to invite me into their spaces to train their communities. I get it - there are so many things competing for our time and plenty of reasons not to take safety and security classes. Statistically, you’ll never need it. However, this is where we remind ourselves of Colleyville, Texas – those men didn’t expect to be in a hostage situation for 10 hours that day in 2021. But they had training and spent the day devising an escape from their situation. Two quotes that I hope inspire you: “The SCN training saved all of our lives. Period.” said Jeff Cohen, a survivor of the Colleyville, TX, hostage-taking, and “We can never know when the next attack will occur, but we can control our readiness and preparation,” from Michael Masters, SCN’s National Director. Safety training is not about scaring you to think that bad things happen in Jewish spaces; bad things do happen everywhere, and we can’t control the “when” and “where.” But training provides the confidence to know you’re capable of handling situations anywhere and can step in and be a leader if necessary.
I’m a big proponent of training because it readies your mind for challenging situations of all kinds. We know that training improves outcomes in an emergency. It’s easy to say you’ll probably never need any of it. No one ever thinks they’re going to be in a critical incident, and yet people find themselves in them every day.
If you’ve had some of the training before, consider taking them again to refresh your skills. Most of these courses have been recently revamped and updated. You’ll find registration links on the community calendar and the Federation website at the security page. They are offered at 12pm on weekdays, and every class is offered each month.
Every course offers something unique, but the De-escalation Class is my favorite course. It provides specific skills and tools relevant to human interactions, whether you’re dealing with a challenging member of the public or you’re having dinner with an obnoxious family member.
Navigating Conflict: The Power of De-Escalation
The goal of this course is to provide a basic understanding of and introduction to the skills and techniques to defuse or reduce tension, hostility, and/or conflict in situations. The course covers the following topics: the definition of de-escalation, common escalation triggers, the de-escalation process, communication skills, and handling aggression. While geared towards those of us in public-facing roles, this is also a great course for anyone with a spouse, partner, siblings, drunk uncle, boss, or co-worker!
BeAware: Introduction to Situational Awareness
SCN’s introduction to situational awareness course, is a basic, foundational course that seeks to build observation skills and will teach you techniques to recognize and react to various situations in your everyday life. It includes going to and from shul, but also dropping off kids at school, navigating crowds, and planning ahead. The course will cover how to train yourself to pay more attention, the influences in your brain that impede observation, and options for reacting to your observations.
Guardian
Guardian seeks to empower people to be “Active Bystanders.” This class is considered the next step from BeAware: Intro to Situational Awareness. The goal is to provide individuals with the skillset to identify potential threats, protect institutions, and respond to situations from a safety perspective. Elements include how to react appropriately to possible threats, the use of de-escalation techniques, and concepts from the Department of Homeland Security’s The Power of Hello program. This class is geared to individuals who may be in a position of responsibility for an organization – maybe a chaperone with a student group or an usher/greeter.
Countering Active Threat Training (CATT)
The goal of CATT is to provide participants with a better understanding of active threats and potential response options. This course subscribes to the national Run, Hide, Fight model and SCN developed CATT with a singular goal: national delivery of a strategy to teach what to do during a threatening situation, wherever it may occur.
Stop the Bleed
Through our Stop the Bleed course, you’ll gain the ability to recognize life-threatening bleeding and intervene effectively. Bleeding to death is the leading cause of fatalities following an accident. Stop the Bleed is a national program, like Red Cross First Aid and CPR, designed to train people how to stop potentially fatal bleeding. This training is relevant to all aspects of our lives, outdoor recreation, household accidents, etc. You’ll learn the concepts of wound pressure and packing skills, and learn how to use a tourniquet on yourself and others. The person next to a bleeding victim may be the one who is most likely to save them.
In addition to the above classes, here are other available courses:
Traveler Safety
Traveler Safety is a course designed for anyone traveling, domestically or internationally, that provides a framework for increasing safety before and during travel. If you’re an individual traveler, I’m happy to share the course contents with you at your convenience.
Personal Protection Program
The arson of the Pennsylvania Governor’s home, the murder of the United Healthcare CEO, have demonstrated that Jewish executives and professionals carry a degree of risk as a result of their work. SCN’s Personal Protection Program provides personalized assistance navigating safety and security at the intersection of your personal and professional worlds.
Camp Training
Camp Training has three courses, each focusing on a specific audience (Counselors, Staff, Leadership), that provide education around awareness, planning, training, and action.
College Campus Safety
This course focuses on the unique challenges for students on college campuses. Given the surge in antisemitic incidents since October 2023, the emphasis on planning and preparedness is crucial.
Besides security training, I’m also available to work with organizations on emergency procedures, developing safety protocols, and conducting Threat and Vulnerability Risk Assessments (TVRA) of your space for safety improvements. If you are an individual who wants to speak with me about a personal safety or security concern, please feel free to contact me at janderson@securecommunitynetwork.org or 872-273-9214. As always, we know antisemitic incidents are vastly underreported! Please let me know about incidents you’re aware of or submit it at the JFGP security webpage: https://www.jewishportland.org/security, by phone, or email.