Jewish Community Center - Incidents and Security

Incidents and Security

In recent years, several incidents that have taken place at JCC locations across the United States and Canada, as well as the September 11 attacks, have prompted JCCs in all areas to increase security at their facilities. Some of these events have included:

• The 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires resulted in 85 deaths and over 300 injured persons.
• In 1997, a woman in Toronto was charged with kidnap and other crimes in the unauthorized removal of her 5-year-old daughter from a JCC childcare center. The woman, a registered nurse who had previously lost custody of her child following a divorce, led police on a high-speed chase and crashed, causing minor injuries to both.
• In the Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting on August 10, 1999, a white supremacist opened fire and wounded five children. All the children survived, but the shooter was later convicted of homicide in a separate incident.
• In the Seattle Jewish Federation shooting on July 29, 2006, one person was killed when a Muslim man named Naveed Afzal Haq opened fire. This shooting was in response to the offender's anger at the United States for the Iraq War and its support for Israel.

New security measures now being implemented include the mandatory display of photo ID upon entry to the building, background checks of prospective employees and members, and police officers or security guards being stationed on premises. Childcare areas now have their access restricted to those who have legitimate reason to enter, and removal of a child, which is tightly monitored, is permitted only by custodial parents and guardians and other authorized adults. In addition, many other new security features now reduce the likelihood of non-members gaining access to member-restricted areas.