Jewish leaders warn of Iran-inspired terror threat after shootings

Glenn Mannella: One of the core duties of security directors like me is to conduct threat and vulnerability risk assessments on all Jewish institutions in our community. That was one of the first things I was trained to do when I joined SCN, and experts came up to teach me. It allows thorough examination of facilities — synagogues, community centers, family services — and identifies areas of improvement for security. We look at the physical security of the building, safety and emergency plans, and make recommendations. We’ll help write new emergency and safety plans, work with them to apply for grants … and we provide training to volunteer security staff, lay leadership, community members, including awareness training, identifying suspicious behavior, deescalating conflict, countering active threat training — run, hide, fight — and stop the bleed training. That’s the on-the-ground stuff security directors like me conduct.