The Secure Community Network told the ABC7 I-Team it is managing the highest threat environment against the Jewish community it has seen in decades.
Chicago's Secure Community Network is expanding its operations to protect the Jewish community amid a high threat environment, the I-Team learned.The Secure Community Network, based in Chicago, is now expanding its operations to alert and protect the Jewish population, the ABC7 I-Team has learned.
SCN's expansion of its real-time threat management and information sharing to protect the Jewish community comes at a time where houses of worship of all faiths are under threat, with theThe I-Team was invited back inside the regional threat center, tucked inside a non-descript building in Chicago, to see the operation in action. SCN's Command Center monitors threats against or near Jewish communities throughout the country. "Over 13,000 Jewish facilities, every single one of them is identifiable. And then the system itself is taking in more than 18,000 data feeds. Surface, deep and dark web," explained Michael Masters, the CEO and National Director of SCN. Now, the organization is marking a new phase to unify national and local real-time threat management and information sharing in a major expansion of regional threat centers covering communities in New Jersey, Delaware and the state of New York, along with ones in Ohio and Florida. Being able to alert a Jewish facility, a faith-based community about a threat is tied to keeping the faith-based community open and active."In building out that regional threat capability we recognized this team is working 24/7 out of the facility because of the number of threats and where they're happening. Enhancing that virtual security shield across the country," said Masters, who is also the former Cook County Homeland Security Chief. He said this expansion is a response to an extremely heightened threat environment for the Jewish community in the United States. And, with Jewish high holidays approaching, a recent shooting at a church in Minneapolis now has all faith communities on high alert. "Since October 7, 2023 our team in our command center has logged over 10,000 threat incidents and suspicious activity reports," Masters added. "It is the most complex and dynamic threat environment we have ever seen impacting the Jewish community... and as a security professional, the most complex and dynamic threat environment we have ever seen impacting our country in the nation's history.""Being able to alert a Jewish facility, a faith-based community about a threat is tied to keeping the faith-based community open and active," Masters said. "If people are concerned or scared about walking into a faith-based institution, whether it's a church in Minneapolis or a synagogue in Scottsdale, Arizona, they won't come. And that impacts our freedom as a democracy." They are freedoms SCN officials said they are working to protect in Chicago with the help of the Jewish United Fund, which is providing in a Chicagoland specific threat analyst to alert local communities. "I really do think the public knowing that we're doing this work gives them some reassurance, and I think that threat actors knowing this work is being done will also give them pause as well," said Daniel Godsel, the Director of Security for JUF. SCN officials told the I-Team it is one of the few institutions that has a direct data feed into the FBI's national threat operations center and work with all 56 FBI field offices. They just released a white paper about the risks and benefits of having armed guards at faith-based communities. The conclusion was the best course is having trained law enforcement on the premises, or extremely stringent training for armed security officers. Also, the organization announced on Wednesday the launch of its Embedded Analyst Program, which is designed to complement SCN's Regional Threat Centers by enabling Community Security Initiatives to "plug into" SCN's network.
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