WASHINGTON (JTA) — Leaders of a Jewish community security network met with U.S. Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano.
Wednesday’s meeting was the first for leaders of the Secure Community Network with Napolitano since she became secretary earlier this year, but the network has been working with the Department of Homeland Security for a number of years on security training and assessments in the Jewish community.
"We talked about continued cooperation," said SCN director Paul Goldenberg. The department "has been working side by side to share intelligence information."
They also discussed "the concerns the community has over the spike in incidents" directed at the Jewish community in recent months, including the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, the synagogue bombing plot uncovered in New York City and the student at Wesleyan University in Connecticut killed by a suspect carrying anti-Semitic materials.
In addition, the alleged shooter in an attack at a military recruiting center in Arkansas earlier this year also was planning to target Jewish sites.
SCN is a joint initiative of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and United Jewish Communities. Its leaders, as well as those of a number of other Jewish umbrella groups, participated in the meeting.
