Keeping Our Community Safe

Report an incident

Special Events Request Form

Report an Anti-Semitic Incident

BIRMINGHAM JEWISH COMMUNITY SECURITY INITIATIVE


The Jewish Community Security Initiative was launched by The Birmingham Jewish Federation in partnership with the Secure Community Network (SCN) May of 2022 to enhance our community’s safety, security, and preparedness posture to ensure all Jewish institutions and organizations received the necessary security coverage and training to enable our community to thrive with an added peace of mind.

Partnership Benefits Include:

Safety and Security Training:

One of the most effective, no-cost measures to enhance a Jewish organization’s safety and security posture is the training of its members, staff, and others in situational awareness, Active Threat Response, and Greeter-Usher practices. These classes, and others, customized to the needs of each organization, build personal confidence, preparedness and resilience in the face of a crisis or emergency and begin the development of a safety and security culture in the organization.

Information Sharing:

Nationally, SCN maintains a Duty Desk with an on-call analyst available to Jewish community leaders and government partners. The Duty Desk provides 24-hour threat monitoring, intelligence analysis, and liaison with local, state, and federal agencies. Locally, our security team operates SCN Alert, a state-of-the-art emergency communications platform that allows for vital, timely information to be sent to staff, community institutions, and partners through SMS and email notifications to subscribers.

Security Advice and Consultation:

The foundation of a security program begins with an assessment of an institution or organization’s current security posture. Our security team can advise and coach the institution through that process. The team will meet with the organization’s leadership to identify needs and to develop a roadmap towards building a strong safety and security posture and culture. Our team also conducts formal Threat, Vulnerability, and Risk Assessments (TVRAs) to support security planning and applications for grant monies from federal, state, and local governments for security enhancements.

DAMON SUMMERS

DAMON SUMMERS

Regional Security Advisor

With over three decades of serving and protecting, Damon Summers joined the Secure Community Network (SCN) in October 2024 as the Regional Security Advisor for the Birmingham Jewish Federation. In this role, Summers administers a security program that provides consultations, building and organizational assessments, training and drills, and threat mitigation to Jewish organizations, including schools, daycare centers, synagogues, camps, assisted living facilities, and other Jewish facilities.

Prior to joining SCN, Summers spent 28 years in law enforcement with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Retiring at the rank of Captain, Summers served as the agency’s Emergency Management Coordinator, the Commander of the Trooper Academy in Selma, area Investigative Operations Commander, and Highway Patrol Post Commander. Summers planned and coordinated state law enforcement response during natural disasters and for special events, conducted sensitive criminal and internal investigations, and developed and implemented the agency’s statewide annual training curriculum among other law enforcement supervisory and command-level duties during his career.

Upon retirement from law enforcement, Summers joined the American Red Cross and served as the Regional Disaster Officer for the Alabama-Mississippi Region where he was responsible for the states’ disaster preparedness, response and recovery programs. Summers assisted in planning and executing Mass Care emergency operations plans at the state and local levels. Summers served as incident commander where he was responsible for managing and directing the Red Cross humanitarian response to multiple hurricane, tornado and other disaster relief efforts in Alabama and Mississippi.

Most recently, Summers worked at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, the state’s largest and busiest airport, as an Operations Supervisor. In that role, he was responsible for monitoring and enforcing TSA and FAA security and safety compliance and regulations, as well as planning, coordinating and responding to aircraft emergency incidents.

Office

3966 Montclair Road, Birmingham, Alabama 35213

Call

(872)357-0893

About SCN

The Secure Community Network (SCN), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, is the official homeland security and safety initiative of the organized Jewish community in North America. Founded in 2004, under the auspices of The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, SCN serves as the central organization dedicated exclusively to the safety and security of the American Jewish community, working across 146 federations, 50 partner organizations, over 300 independent communities as well as with other partners in the public, private, non-profit and academic sectors.

Through its operations center and Duty Desk, SCN provides timely, credible threat and incident information to both law enforcement and community partners, serves as the community’s formal liaison with federal law enforcement and coordinates closely with state and local law enforcement partners. SCN works with communities and partners across North America to develop and implement strategic frameworks that enhance safety and security of the Jewish people, developing best practice policies and procedures, undertaking threat and vulnerability assessments, coordinating training and education, offering consultation on safety and security matters and providing crisis management support during critical incidents.