The horrifying massacre in a Pittsburgh synagogue has left the Jewish community stunned, reeling, and doubting their safety in a world where Jews are targeted simply because of their faith. For parents, that fear has an added, deeper dimension: fear for their children’s safety when they are out of their immediate vicinity.
Lakewood schools are taking this threat seriously as well.
Former chief of police Robert Lawson, now CEO of IronRock Security, has seen a marked upsurge in calls and questions from concerned school administrators and principals, with many of them requesting an immediate increase in their armed guard presence.
Unfortunately, for many schools this is not as simple as just making a phone call, the security company explained, as the government security grants are often insufficient to meet the growing need. Many schools work hard to equip their buildings with the best security measures available within their budgets and prioritize spending their grant money on hardening the building. Lawson has reported that in some schools, parents have stepped up to subsidize the cost of an armed guard.
“IronRock is working with some schools and the Board of Ed on an innovative solution that will hopefully be able to help even the schools that have minimal funding be able to implement effective security measures,” a company representative said. “This cost-effective solution would include a roving-guard system which, together with sophisticated monitoring systems, can maximize a school’s limited budget.”
Lawson says armed security works.
“We pray for the innocent victims of the shooting in Pittsburgh and we hope that something similar will never occur here in Lakewood,” Lawson says. “However, it’s best to be prepared in the event that an attack is attempted, so that it can be prevented or at least the damage can be minimized.”
This is for ALL PRIVATE CITIZENS pertinent to this article and the preceding articles about this type of event.
Everyone should be prepared. This is how:
https://www.dhs.gov/private-citizen
Stop spending the money on “hardening the building” Everyone knows what that means – WASTE.
Get a guard… or two!
That’s what the grants are for! Schools already spent previous year’s grants on “hardening”. My children don’t feel any safer.
(My son told me he asked his principal if they will be having a lockdown drill… no answer…)
The principal wouldn’t say if there has to be a lockdown drill. Think about it the kids all will know maybe some wouldn’t show and wouldn’t know what to do. It has to be a sudden drill. Your son asked me and I didn’t want to scare him away. But one day we are going to pull a lockdown drill without any warning. Please be patient as we all are taking precaution in tightening the security in our school. Thank you
Somehow I doubt my son’s principal is ready TLS during school hours… (or any hours for that matter…)
Instead of real security they are putting things in like cameras which could be very nice to get a conviction afterwords.
That’s not true… we live in a free country. Please have respect…
To me.
Yiu are absolutely wrong . If a building is totally vulnerable ,the security guard wont help much . You first need to tighten up your building so that bad guys are fettered from entering at many windows and doors and then a security guard can help
I didn’t want to spell it out, but my children attend a pretty large institution here (so there’s plenty of grant $) & the “hardening” grants have yielded no tangible results. no bulletproof windows or doors, just upgraded security cameras (again!) which help after the fact but don’t prevent or stop one. So yes, I’d rather a guard!
Chief Meyers and the OC Prosecutor are 100% right. SLEOs for schools and shuls. Unfortunately the politicians hold the purse strings. Not only are they Irresponsible they are Dangerous. Trying to make us BORROW the money from them. I am confident that should Trump win the election, the DHS grants will flow. This is an issue of Life, Liberty, Justice and the Pursuit of Happiness. The Federal Government MUST fund this and fast. Think about this on election day. We’ve come from MAGA to KAG. Let’s roll.
First off, the best of luck with IronRock, Chief.
As our Former Revered Chief Lawson says, armed security works.
“We pray for the innocent victims of the shooting in Pittsburgh and we hope that something similar will never occur here in Lakewood,” Lawson says. “However, it’s best to be prepared in the event that an attack is attempted, so that it can be prevented or at least the damage can be minimized.”
Chief Lawson knows the sorrow of losing a family member, his fine son Craig, who followed in his father’s footsteps as a police officer. A sad and terrible loss for all of us, may he rest in peace.
Just an additional thought from Joel B. Pollak, Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News.
“Jews in the U.S. should take a cue from our brethren in Israel. We have no choice but to arm ourselves — either personally, or by hiring armed guards for synagogues and schools.
It is a dismal reality — but it need not be a debilitating one, just as buying life insurance does not mean being preoccupied by death. We cannot wait for a political solution to gun violence — which will never come — nor can we trust extremists to comply with the law.
It may seem ironic that Saturday’s shooting took place at the “Tree of Life” synagogue. But the term “Tree of Life” refers to the Torah itself, which endures, just as it has endured for millennia. It is the reason that, though we may die, we can never be destroyed.
The Torah also commands us to use deadly force to stop someone who intends to kill others and cannot be stopped any other way. Thankfully, we have the Second Amendment. We should use it.”
Same here. I would like to see a security guard at my daughters’ school besides for making sure all windows and doors are properly locked.