Officials and synagogues prepare extra security for Jewish high holidays
Police and nonprofit emergency services organization Chaverim are planning to increase their presence in Jewish communities throughout the month of October.
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Officials across the Hudson Valley are preparing to increase security as the Jewish high holidays approach.
"We are all worried. We are worried in our community, we are worried throughout the county, throughout the state, throughout the nation," says Ramapo Town Supervisor Michael Specht.
This comes after multiple threats were made against Jewish communities in the last year.
Rockland County has the largest Jewish population percentage in the U.S. - a total of 31%
Police and nonprofit emergency services organization Chaverim are planning to increase their presence in Jewish communities throughout the month of October.
They say they will patrol in marked and unmarked vehicles, monitor social media and stay in contact with outside agencies on potential threats.
"Last year, we have numerous examples of people coming into synagogues, even in our area, who didn't belong there whether they came in to disrupt, issues that they were dealing with," says Ethan Erlich, regional security director for the Community Safety Initiative.
But it's not just Rockland County that's ramping up patrols. Synagogues in the Hudson Valley are doing the same.
"It's always a concern but I don't think it's going to hold anyone back from coming to synagogue," says Rabbi Mendy Hurwitz, of the Greystone Jewish Center Chabad of Yonkers.
The Greystone Jewish Center Chabad of Yonkers has a few new security measures in place.
"Security cameras, gates are going up, so the obvious is what we see and then obviously, for security reasons, we don't state everything else going on," says Hurwitz.
