Safety and Security Survey

Safety and Security Survey

The security landscape for minorities in the United States has been on a gradual decline for the past several years. A slew of surveys and polls have indicated that attacks on religious centers in the United States have gone up. Recently, the attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in our own community has left many of us shocked, hurt and worried for our own safety and security. It has also led us to a realization that it is imperative to maintain a certain level of security in our center.

In the past couple of months, the Executive Council has constituted a security committee with the goal of assessing the safety and security needs of our center. The committee is looking at a wide range of measures to address those needs, including installation of high resolution surveillance equipment, controlling access through the main doors, bolstering windows and other potential entrance points, presence of armed security during various activities and events, and other infrastructure upgrades. We are consulting with the Monroeville police and other security companies and agencies, to help us make informed decisions in this regard.

As an example, based on random polling of a few community members, we hired a security company on a trial basis for a month. The main goal was to learn from the experience and evaluate feasibility.

We believe it is extremely important to have your input in this matter. Therefore, we are floating this survey in the hope that we will hear from you. Please take time to answer the following questions and provide comments as and when necessary. Your feedback will shape our response and measures and will help us serve you better.

When you answer the questions, please think about your experience at the center. Think about various times and events like Jumu’a, Family Nights, Sunday School, Ramadan, Eids, when you or your loved ones are at the center.


Infrastructure


Do we need to have a gate at the entrance of premises? To help you visualize, this gate will be like an entrance to a parking lot or parking garage to be activated with a badge-wave. It will be open for Juma, Sunday School and during major events, but locked otherwise. When locked, only the person carrying the badge will have access to the center’s premises.

Do you recommend all the glass doors and glass windows around the social hall be bulletproof and shatterproof?


Building Access


Do you recommend using only one main door for the entrance for everyone and lock the rest of the doors at all times?

Note that only access from outside can be locked. Due to fire code requirements, exiting out of doors would still be permitted

Do you recommend a badged entry system for access?


Armed Security


Do you recommend having armed security for all events at the center?

Do you think having a guard is the right approach for increasing security at the center?


Armed Security Trial


Did the Security guard seem conscious about safety?

Please provide additional comments, if any, in the General section below

Was the security guard observant and diligent?

Please provide additional comments, if any, in the General section below


Was the security guard professional in his interactions with the community?

Please provide additional comments, if any, in the General section below


Volunteers


Do you recommend putting in place a permanent security committee? This committee will keep a check on current measures and evaluate and recommend future improvements.

Do you recommend having volunteer security teams for various events and activities? This is one of the key measures recommended by security experts. These teams will keep an eye out for strangers and any unusual occurrences during these events.

Would you volunteer for any of these committees and teams? Before answering, please consider that these measures can only be effective if there is more participation from the community members. This is our collective responsibility.

Do you recommend training and drills for community members?


General


We intended the survey to be short - to encourage more participation. If you have a point that you think was not addressed in the questions above, feel free to let us know here. You can also use this field to tell us about your experience or observations about the measures that are already in place, have been tried or should be implemented.