Safe Indy Emphasizes Training and Preparedness in Response to Colleyville Incident

As the global Jewish community continues to recover from the violent act of antisemitism and international terrorism in Colleyville, Texas, the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis’ Safe Indy Security Initiative now has an opportunity to reflect on the event and its impact on the local community. 

As the Safe Indy Security Initiative begins its third year, Colleyville provides an opportunity to reassess the local security posture as a community and redouble its efforts toward continuous improvement. The lessons learned from Colleyville can, in large measure, inform the immediate way ahead for the local organizations, says Grant Mendenhall, Safe Indy Community Security Director.

Mendenhall said as Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker has alluded to continuously since the events at Congregation Beth Israel, the key learning point for the global Jewish community is the importance of ongoing safety and security training to prepare congregants for the worst-case scenario, as was on display in Colleyville.

“Rabbi Charlie applauded the training he and other members of his congregation received over a period of years from local law enforcement, the ADL and, most recently, from the Secure Community Network (SCN), Safe Indy’s founding partner,” he said. “Rabbi Charlie and his congregants were empowered by, and acted on, the lessons they learned from those training sessions, to save their own lives.”

Mendenhall stressed that ongoing, organizational-level training continues to be a key pillar of the Safe Indy Security Initiative, along with hardening facilities through Threat, Vulnerability, and Risk Assessments (TVRA) leading to applications for federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) grants, and overall security planning and preparedness development. 

With 21 TVRAs conducted and $1.4 million in federal grant funding allocated to Jewish organizations across the state, the Safe Indy Security Initiative has realized significant success to date. As the program continues to evolve and grow, in keeping with the lessons learned in Colleyville, the program’s 2022 focus will be on enhancing training opportunities for Jewish community members and organizations through in-person and virtual offerings.

Training will be made available across the community on topics including: BeAware - The relevance of awareness to safety and security in your daily life, Countering Active Threat Training (CATT) - Tools and techniques that can help keep you alive if you find yourself in an active threat situation, Safety Team Training - Enhanced situational awareness and response training for community organizations and their volunteers, and Stop the Bleed - Emergency first aid to save a life.

Contact Mendenhall at safeindy@jfgi.org for more information, or to schedule a training.

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The Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis is a close partner with the Jewish Federation in Fort Worth, Texas, close to Colleyville, through the Partnership2Gether program. Jewish Federations in this partnership as well as Jewish Federation’s across the United States come together to offer support and dollars overseas. The 24-year relationship with communities is not just one with Israel but one of reciprocity and reciprocal support. The Partnership2Gether region in Israel and Budapest immediately offered support to Colleyville and to any other Jewish community in the United States should a crisis occur. In addition, the Safe Indy program plans to offer safety and preparedness trainings to its partners as well.

“As a response to the Fort Worth Community threat in early January, and interest in educating our Partnership communities in the Midwest, Grant Mendenhall, Safe Indy’s Community Security Director, offers to proactively prepare, educate and work with many of our Partnership communities. Stay tuned for future security updates and education preparedness opportunities,” said Michelle Korin, JFGI Israel Partnership Coordinator.
Visit www.westerngalilee.org.il/ page to learn more about the Partnership program.