After three men escaped a hostage situation in a Colleyville temple, both they and the FBI credited the work of an organization that devotes itself to protecting Jewish communities.
After three men escaped a hostage situation in a Colleyville temple, both they and the FBI credited the work of an organization that devotes itself to protecting Jewish communities.
Since 2004, Secure Community Network has helped train people for situations like this one.
The non-profit describes itself as “the official homeland security and safety initiative of the organized Jewish community in North America.”
So while those in Congregation Beth Israel might have experienced a worst-case scenario when an armed man walked through the doors Saturday morning, it was one they were prepared for.
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"We knew that we had trained the congregation. We knew who was inside the building,” said SCN Chair of the board Harold Gernsbacher.
Gernsbacher said SCN has held trainings for members of Beth Israel multiple times, most recently in August.
“It is primary in those trainings what do we do if we have an incident with a person of not necessarily in hostage-taking but a hostile person, an unstable person, a myriad of things that can occur within that environment and a general understanding of what that means and how to manage your way through that and what to expect,” he said.
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In other words, whether to run, hide or fight.
It’s a decision-making process one of the hostages described as he credited the SCN training on his Facebook page, saying it helped him move his fellow hostages towards the exit from which they eventually escaped.
In the moments after learning all of the men had safely escaped, Gernsbacher said he felt a sense of relief but also concern as to why this happened.
"What could we have done? What could we do? And how do we think about that as we go forward?” said Gernsbacher.
Moving forward, SCN will be focused not only on rebuilding a sense of security for the members of Beth Israel but also on protecting people of all faith-based communities.
"We still have an awful lot of work to do, and we're not tired, and we're not fazed,” said Gernsbacher.
From the moment the 911 call was placed, SCN began working with the FBI to provide information about the facility.
The group provides online training for all faith-based communities to prepare them to do the same.
