Antisemitic Violence Sparks $765 Million in Security Spending

The week before Passover, Bill Ganley delivered a grim presentation to congregants at Beth Israel, a synagogue near the coastal San Diego enclave of La Jolla: How to survive an active shooting. “Where can you HIDE?” read one of his slides. “What weapons can you use to FIGHT?” A young mother raised her hand. “One of my biggest fears is something like this happening,” she said, her voice quivering. “Even talking about it is going to make me cry.” In the event of an attack, security experts like Ganley advise a sequential protocol of “run, hide, fight.” But how could she best protect her children? “Try to scoop them up as quickly as you can and get out,” he replied.

Ganley, a retired Irish Catholic police officer who relocated to Southern California from New Hampshire in 2018, works for Secure Community Network, the largest Jewish security nonprofit in North America. He hosts regular workshops like this one at Jewish institutions across San Diego County—synagogues, day schools, museums. Since 2018, when a gunman killed 11 congregants at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, SCN has grown from a handful of employees to 130, its $1.2 million budget swelling to $35 million. “As a community, we have doubled down on security because it’s a necessity,” Michael Masters, SCN’s national director, says from its headquarters in Chicago.