Community Security Advisory Committee

In 2015 we established our Committee Security Advisory Committee, chaired by Bernard Pinksy. Their work is focused on assessing the risks facing community institutions, and proposing strategies for a comprehensive approach to security and safety that will serve our community for the long term, including:

• Creating a culture of security throughout our community.
• Implementing best practices and protocols for security.
• Acting as a central point of contact for community-wide security-related issues.
• Providing training and advice to our community agencies.
• Developing a community-wide emergency preparedness plan.

Director of Security

In 2017, we welcomed our Director of Security for our community, Daniel Heydenrych-Davis, whose role is to work with local Jewish organizations, law enforcement agencies, and other strategic partners to focus on three key priority areas: 

• Ensuring the ongoing safety of our community and its institutions;
• Facilitating the delivery of training and educational workshops to ensure community organizations and their leadership stay abreast of best practices and trends related to security;
• Cultivating a volunteer network to help enhance the security preparedness of local institutions, especially around major community events

Daniel’s role is to support the Jewish community as a whole. Daniel is happy to work with any organization interested in training, audits, or in need of security advice or assistance. In an emergency situation, community agencies should first call 911 and then reach out to Daniel so that he can liaise with local law enforcement and provide guidance to the organization’s security leaders.

Please reach out to Daniel for training opportunities or any non-emergent security needs:

Email: Daniel Heydenrych-Davis

Call or Text: 604-362-5706

Cybersecurity and Information Protection Subcommittee

In 2020, with many organization transitioning to remote or hybrid operations, we formed our Cybersecurity and Information Protection Subcommittee. The mandate of the Cybersecurity and Information Protection Subcommittee is to:

• recommend and communicate to Jewish community agencies information about specific cyber threats and guidance that is published by recognized authoritative sources regarding cybersecurity (e.g., best practices, assessment tools, educational/training materials, and policies/procedures);
• to provide training sessions;
• and to help Jewish community agencies work together to procure and implement cybersecurity services from commercial providers, where available. A key aspect of the subcommittee’s work is to help our partner agencies understand their level of exposure to cybercrime, and to make recommendations on how to reduce the risk.

Federation Annual Campaign

Enhanced security measures require funding. When a community organization or event has security needs, they usually rely on Jewish Federation to provide at least some of the funding, if not all of it. This is in addition to the funds we generate to support needs like social services, Jewish education, seniors’ programs, and more. We identified community security as a key area of work in our 2020 Strategic Priorities and made it a focus of the 2016 Federation Annual Campaign. It is through the campaign that we generate the funds needed to support community security initiatives. 

Federal Government Security Infrastructure Program

The federal government also provides funding to private, not-for-profit organizations that are at risk of being victimized by hate- motivated crime, helping with the cost of security infrastructure improvements. With Daniel’s support, many of our community organizations have been successful in their applications for funding. We continue to encourage organizations to apply for SIP funds to enable them to maximize their security upgrades.

With antisemitism on the rise, each one of us has a role to play in keeping our community safe. If you see something suspicious or that is hateful to our community, tell someone. First, call police. Second, report the incident our director of security, Daniel Heydenrch-Davis.