A brand new Homeland Security information goals to assist homes of worship defend themselves
A brand new information from the Department of Homeland Security launched Wednesday goals to assist church buildings, synagogues, mosques and different homes of worship defend themselves at a time of heightened tensions in faith-based communities throughout the nation.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, an arm of Homeland Security, works with religion teams throughout the nation to assist them put together for and forestall focused violence towards their amenities and their members. David Mussington, who’s in command of infrastructure safety at CISA, says the purpose of the 16-page doc is to present useable info in a format that’s straightforward to grasp.
“It’s designed to be clear, to be less jargon-filled and to provide guidance and assistance in getting assistance from us,” Mussington stated.
The steerage, dubbed “Physical Security Performance Goals for Faith-Based Communities,” outlines how religion teams can higher defend themselves: holding landscaping like hedges trimmed to forestall hiding locations for attackers, for instance, or solely giving out needed info throughout livestreams of companies.
It additionally talks about having a plan in place for when one thing occurs, corresponding to having a predetermined spot the place individuals can go and having a devoted location for the religion neighborhood to memorialize individuals affected by what occurred. There’s additionally details about federal authorities grants that homes of worship can apply for to pay for safety enhancements in addition to different sources the division has developed to assist communities.
Mussington stated the rules have been within the works for months in response to issues his company has heard from varied faiths about how one can defend themselves.
“In this continued heightened threat environment, the Department of Homeland Security is committed to protecting every American’s right to live, express, and worship their faith freely and in safety,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stated in a press release. “The physical security performance goals we are releasing today provide churches, synagogues, mosques, and other faith-based institutions with cost-effective, accessible, and readily implementable strategies to enhance their security and reduce the risk to their communities.”
The steerage might be distributed by way of CISA places of work across the nation and the company’s community of roughly 125 protecting safety advisers throughout the nation who work with varied communities to offer safety recommendation.
The steerage comes at a time of deep unease in lots of communities of religion throughout America. Jewish communities throughout the nation have been nervous about rising antisemitism even earlier than the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on Israel, taking efforts to defend their synagogues and communities. Since the Hamas assault, Mayorkas stated, his company has responded to a rise in threats towards Jewish, Muslim, and Arab American communities within the U.S.
