Two organizations at the Jewish Community Campus — Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy and the Jewish Community Center’s Child Development Center — recently installed SafeDefend, a proactive crisis response system. This system uses multiple communication methods to alert security, faculty, students and visitors within seconds of a crisis situation occurring. It also sends an immediate detailed message to local police.
The installation of this security notification system, which was made possible by a security grant from the Morgan Family Foundation, is one of the Jewish Community Campus’ newest security enhancements. The system was installed after a thorough review of the Campus’ security needs by Chuck Green, communitywide security director for Kansas City’s Jewish community
“The more information and the more quickly we get it, the safer we can keep our community,” said Green. “The SafeDefend system allows us to improve our response time and security awareness. My job is to make this community a safer, more secure place for everyone to enjoy, and this system is a critical tool in helping us achieve this goal.”
The security enhancements in Kansas City’s Jewish community come as a result of the April 13, 2014, shooting at the Jewish Community Campus and nearby Village Shalom senior living center. Three individuals were killed in the shooting. Following the shooting, a Jewish Community security director position was immediately put into motion. Green came on board as the current director in February 2017. He has extensive experience in the security field, having served as a special agent for the U.S. Secret Service for more than 30 years.
Jeff Green, a former Kansas elementary school principal, developed the SafeDefend Active Shooter Response System to address the following priorities.
1) Ensuring law enforcement and onsite staff have detailed, real time information about a crisis.
2) Reducing law enforcement response time.
3) Providing onsite staff with training and tools to effectively manage a crisis until help arrives.
The SafeDefend system uses multiple communication methods to communicate specific details of a crisis situation to local police and onsite staff. It is fingerprint-activated. Police and staff are immediately notified of the specific location of the crisis in a detailed text and/or email, a 911 call is placed and audible sirens and warning lights notify onsite staff and visitors.