Federation, SCN enhance community security with Embedded Analyst Program

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and the Secure Community Network have expanded a partnership that has existed for nearly a decade.

The two organizations recently announced the launch of SCN’s Embedded Analyst Program, an integrated threat management initiative designed to enhance security for Pittsburgh’s Jewish community.

As part of program, SCN will place an analyst in Pittsburgh at Federation’s office. The analyst will work to identify, manage and report local threats.

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The Enhanced Analyst Program, SCN said in a press release, will allow Federation to plug into SCN’s network of security professionals, knowledge base, training programs and AI technology for advanced threat detection, management and nationwide information sharing.

Shawn Brokos, Federation’s community security director, said the new program is “one more step in building our security team so that all of us here in Pittsburgh can be prepared and as proactive as possible.”

In the past, Brokos said, threats were often run through SCN’s Jewish Security Operations Command Center based in Chicago. Typically, Federation would send JSOC one or two concerns a day. The information sent back would help the Federation make informed decisions about potential threats.

“What has happened since Oct. 7, with the Hamas attack in Israel, is that we have seen the rise of more local antisemitic groups,” Brokos said. “It’s very important for us, here in Pittsburgh, to track those local groups.”

As threats continued to rise, she said, it became apparent that an analyst dedicated exclusively to Pittsburgh was needed.

Federation has been in conversation with SCN for nearly a year, Brokos said, noting that robust intelligence is one of the most valuable tools to stop attacks before they happen.

Case in point is the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, she said.

The attacker “was somebody who, after the fact, we realized had scathing posts directed at Jews but not directly targeting them except for right before the attack,” she said.

The goal, Brokos said, is to identify threats like those posed by the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter and turn them over to law enforcement before they are realized.

“We have to make sure our finger is on the pulse and that’s what this analyst will provide us,” she said.

Michael Masters, SCN’s national director and CEO, called the relationship with Pittsburgh’s Federation “long and strong.”

He said that since the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on Oct. 27, 2018, there has been an increased threat environment requiring a targeted effort to identify bad actors and keep the community safe. An example of that, he said, was the command center set up during the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter’s trial.

“We did a lot during the trial to monitor and identify threats and then work with law enforcement to deal with those threats,” he said.

SCN’s work — monitoring, identifying and mitigating threats, in collaboration with local, state and federal law enforcement — covers the entirety of the Jewish community, Masters explained.

Included as part of that effort are the Jewish Security Office Command Center; Project RAIN, an AI-enabled national threat identification, management, information-sharing, case management and alert technology platform; and, National Centers of Excellence, providing best-practice tools, materials and curriculum for assessing and protecting institutions, ensuring emergency preparedness and delivering life-saving training for community members and organizations.

Pittsburgh joins Boston as part of SCN’s “Virtual Shield,” meant to blend the organization’s technology platform, national database, analysts and knowledge base, along with local security efforts and experts to create one fully integrated security network.

That being said, Masters noted that Pittsburgh’s Jewish community has been impacted by events unlike anywhere else.

Brokos, too, said that the threat level in Pittsburgh is unique.

“I’ll give you an example,” she said. “During the Maccabi Games, we were concerned about potential threats from some of our locally known and national hate groups. The Maccabi Games had occurred in Tucson, Arizona, a week before Pittsburgh and we asked them if they had any threats, and they hadn’t had one. We had already fielded concerning information for at least a month.”

When it comes to Pittsburgh, Brokos said, there are a significant number of hate groups commingling with white supremacist groups as well as those who hate Israel. The result, she said, is a threat level equal to that in New York and California.

The Embedded Analyst Program will become part of Jewish Pittsburgh’s security, which includes awareness, target hardening, training and law enforcement liaison.

“This is one of the tools we’ll use in a layered security approach,” Brokos said. “We have done so much work with target hardening and making our facilities safe and secure. We’ve done so much training — we’ve trained over 35,000 members of the Jewish community — and we have great relationships with law enforcement. Threat mitigation is essential; we’re bolstering that with this program.”

Jeff Finkelstein, Federation president and CEO, said that since 2016, the organization has worked to build a top-quality security program.

“This continued evolution and expansion of our capacities and abilities will strengthen our blanket of security over Jewish Pittsburgh. We are proud of our close relationship with SCN and look forward to deepening it.” PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.