SARASOTA – After an increase in school shootings and anti-semitic attacks, a Suncoast Jewish Organization is upping their security.
Marty Katz- Sr. Director of Communications and Marketing, the Jewish Federation of Sarasota- Manatee
“To have everybody, not only our organizations but are individuals prepared to keep themselves safe,” said Sr. Director of Communications and Marketing, the Jewish Federation of Sarasota- Manatee, Marty Katz.
The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee has hired Jeff Solomon as their first Community Security director.
Solomon, who retired from law enforcement after nearly three decades, is a nationally recognized expert in threat assessment and school safety.
“The primary reason is prevention, everything we want to do is prevention-based, and as you are aware there have been a number of attacks, not only against Jewish facilities throughout the country and the world but schools in general,” said Community Security Director, Jeff Solomon.
Solomon held his first school safety workshop Monday at Temple Sanai.
“Getting in there and teaching situational awareness, making sure people understand their surroundings, understanding how to react, what your body goes through in a critical incident, some of the fundamentals, how to provide a layering effect such as a facility such as a school, how to make it safer,” said Solomon.
Jewish Federation Communications Director, Marty Katz, says they’ve looked into partnering with the Secure Community Network for some time.
“We are trying to do everything we can proactively, ahead of time to make sure that we know what to do if and when a situation occurs,” said Katz.
Katz says the decision was made prior to the anti-Semitic incidents on the Suncoast.
“It’s imperative for this community to feel safe, number one and we as a federation feel very strongly about helping the community to feel safe and we want them to attempt temple, to go to synagogue, we want them to attend our various events,” said Katz.
