As High Holidays approach, institutions urged to review policies, reinforce training and avoid exceptions

By Sharon Wisch-Ray

Fences, guardhouses, panic buttons and protective window film might once have seemed out of place at North Texas synagogues and Jewish schools.

Today, they are part of a layered security system that Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas Community Security Director Bill Humphrey says has become necessary as antisemitic incidents and threats continue to rise.

“When I started, did we have fences around synagogues? No,” Humphrey said. “When I started, did we have panic buttons in every one of our institutions? No. Did we have security glass or film on all of our glass? We did not, but seven years later we do.”

Humphrey, who spent nearly four decades with the Dallas Police Department before joining the Federation about 7½ years ago, said the job has evolved along with the threats facing the community.

The response has evolved as well, creating a North Texas security network that includes the Jewish Federations in Dallas and Fort Worth and Tarrant County, Secure Community Network, the Anti-Defamation League, law enforcement, individual institutions and their security personnel, volunteers and trained congregants.

For about three years, the Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tarrant County has contracted with the Dallas Federation for security director services and oversight. Humphrey and Roy Gray, Community Security deputy director, work with a local Tarrant County security committee chaired by Jim Stanton on training, site assessments, nonprofit security grant applications and law enforcement coordination.

Barry Abels, president and CEO of the Fort Worth and Tarrant County Federation, said sharing the Dallas security team gives Tarrant County professional security direction in a way that makes sense geographically and economically.

The arrangement has not supplanted SCN, the national safety and security organization of the Jewish community. Abels said SCN continues to provide alerts, online seminars, training and national intelligence information, while the Dallas security operation provides regional monitoring and coordination.

Building relationships with law enforcement has also been a priority for Jewish community organizations, including the Federations and ADL.

Humphrey said that work has produced an understanding of the threats facing the Jewish community that extends beyond law enforcement leadership to officers on the street.

“I can’t speak for the rest of the country, but I can tell you in North Texas they do because we meet with them on a regular basis and have these conversations,” Humphrey said.

Asked whether that understanding extends to the officer on the beat, Humphrey answered, “Absolutely.”

Abels said those relationships are evident in Tarrant County, where nearly all congregations have law enforcement officers on duty and many regularly hire the same off-duty officers.

“They almost become part of the family,” he said.

Those officers become familiar with congregants and facilities while maintaining direct communication with their departments. Local law enforcement also knows the Jewish facilities and their layouts, Abels said.

Much of the security operation is less visible. Humphrey said the Federation continually assesses potential threats and exchanges information with law enforcement and private-sector analysts, SCN and security professionals in other Jewish communities.

But two events made the need for security particularly visible: the January 2022 hostage crisis at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville and the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Colleyville forced congregations to reconsider even seemingly simple acts of hospitality.

“Do we know whether it’s OK to open the door for somebody when it’s 30-something degrees outside with a 20-mile-an-hour wind and they need shelter, but we don’t know who they are and they weren’t invited?” Humphrey said.

That was essentially the situation at Congregation Beth Israel, where Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker opened the synagogue door to a stranger who appeared cold and in need of shelter. The man later took Cytron-Walker and three congregants hostage.

Colleyville also demonstrated the importance of training.

Cytron-Walker and fellow hostage Jeffrey Cohen have credited SCN security training they received before the attack with helping them respond during the 11-hour ordeal and ultimately escape.

Abels said that once the hostage crisis began, their response was consistent with what they had been taught.

“What they did once the scenario began was totally in line with the training that they took,” he said.

Cytron-Walker ultimately threw a chair at the hostage-taker as the remaining hostages fled.

Training remains a major part of security efforts throughout North Texas. It includes situational awareness, active-threat response, usher and greeter instruction, first aid, CPR and Stop the Bleed.

The goal is not simply to attend a class once, Abels said.

“Reinforcement times repetition equals success,” he said. “You practice.”

Access to Jewish institutions has changed, too.

“Now you just don’t show up at the synagogue,” Abels said.

Depending on the congregation, worshippers and guests may be required to register, sign in or otherwise be identified or vetted before entering.

Humphrey said those procedures cannot be waived because someone is familiar or because enforcing them is inconvenient.

“There just can’t be any marginalized security practices,” he said. “You can’t make exceptions and hope that everything’s going to be OK.”

The visible measures are only some of the layers. Employees and congregants themselves are an important part of security because they know when something or someone appears out of place, Humphrey said.

“Nobody knows their synagogue or school better than those who are there every day,” he said. “They know their facility. They know who comes and goes. They know the routines.”

Alex Horn, ADL Texoma regional director, said that responsibility extends beyond Jewish institutions.

“As we head into the High Holiday season, every one of us is part of the security team,” Horn said. “If something feels off — a car parked too long, a stranger asking too many questions, a message that just doesn’t sit right — say something. Call it in.”

Shomer, a local Jewish volunteer security organization, adds trained eyes and ears at services and community events.

Multiple layers are particularly important because an attacker may not have previously appeared on the radar of law enforcement or intelligence analysts.

“The lone-wolf factor is the concern,” Humphrey said.

“Maybe the bad guy gets to the front gate, but if their security guards are doing their job and things are in place as they should be, he doesn’t get any further than that front gate,” he said.

Another post-Colleyville change was the installation in 2023 of emergency communication devices at Dallas Federation partner agencies, allowing Orthodox congregations and others observing Shabbat or holidays to receive emergency alerts without operating a cellphone or computer. The devices activate automatically and broadcast instructions; Humphrey said they were used on Oct. 7.

Tarrant County has not yet adopted the same technology, Abels said, although it is under consideration. Congregations there use other protocols to communicate emergencies during Shabbat and holidays.

As the High Holidays approach, Humphrey said institutions should review their procedures and make sure staff members know what to do in an emergency.

“What will you do if something bad happens? Who do you call? Who goes where?” he said. “All those protocols should be looked at right now.”

Congregants have responsibilities as well. They should know what identification, registration or other credentials their synagogue requires for admission and bring them to services.

“Anytime somebody doesn’t feel comfortable, they see something that’s out of place, they know something that’s out of place, they need to make that 911 call,” Humphrey said.

For Abels, confidence comes not from believing an incident cannot occur but from knowing that institutions have prepared for one. He said he has “faith in the systems that we have in place that would help mitigate a problem and get somebody to respond rather quickly.”

Humphrey said the purpose of those systems and layers ultimately is to allow Jewish life to continue without security becoming its focus.

“We want everybody to have an enjoyable, meaningful holiday season without any interruptions or disturbances and focus on what the High Holidays are all about,” he said. “As long as the security layers and protocols are in place, we believe that’ll happen.”

If you see something, say something. Report antisemitic incidents to adl.org/report-incident or tinyurl.com/JFGDreport.