Suburban houses of worship are increasing security measures after Pittsburgh shooting
Balancing heightened security with a welcoming environment has become a common issue facing suburban houses of worship that years ago felt safe leaving their doors open.
In the wake of this weekend's deadly mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, police upped their patrol presence near Jewish congregations in communities such as Long Grove, Lombard, Naperville and Elgin. Other violent attacks in recent history have prompted local religious organizations to increase building safety, add security officers and lock their entrances more frequently.
"This is not something new," said Sid Mathias, board president for Congregation Beth Judea. "We have been working on this for the last several years knowing that the world is no longer the safe place that we once thought it was when we were growing up."
The Long Grove synagogue already has added more resistant doors and windows, he said, and police officers are on site during services on High Holy Days. The congregation also was among the recipients of a Department of Homeland Security grant to help fund additional building upgrades.
Similar grants were awarded to the Chabad Jewish Center of Elgin, Rabbi Mendel Shemtov said, and to the Shir Hadash Synagogue in Wheeling, according to Homeland Security.
As increased safety measures become more common, many religious leaders grapple with drawing a line between keeping the congregation safe and losing sight of its mission, said Guy Russ, assistant vice president for risk control at Church Mutual Insurance Co. The Wisconsin-based company serves organizations of all religious denominations nationwide, including in the suburbs.
After the Pittsburgh shooting, which killed 11 people and injured six, President Donald Trump suggested the death toll might have been lower if an armed guard had been in the building. Religious leaders who call Church Mutual's risk control hotline often question whether such a step is necessary to keep their members safe, Russ said.
"The facility's (leaders) need to decide what balance they want to strike - the welcoming nature they want, how they keep their folks safe," he said. "It's an important consideration."
After a violent national tragedy, suburban police departments try to help where they can. Lake County sheriff's police Sgt. Christopher Covelli said the agency has increased patrols at synagogues and other places of worship in unincorporated areas and towns where it is under contract to provide law-enforcement services.
Among the municipalities covered by the sheriff's office is Long Grove, which has the Congregation Beth Judea and Temple Chai synagogues.
Elgin officers have been stationed outside during activities at Congregation Kneseth Israel since Saturday, Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein said. Lombard police sent an officer to Congregation Etz Chaim over the weekend, and Naperville has increased its patrols of all the city's religious facilities.
"While we have no credible threats, we know in society that copycats are a big thing," Naperville Deputy Chief Jason Arres said. "So we want to do what we can to prevent anything like that from happening."
An active shooter training program held last month at Calvary Church of Naperville taught religious leaders how to react if violence strikes in their places of worship. It was one of six major sessions hosted nationwide by Church Mutual, which also works with industry experts to provide a webinar series and other free online resources.
The company started offering those programs about two years ago because of the increased frequency of armed attacks, Russ said. The services have become increasingly popular as more religious groups recognize a need for a safety plan.
FEMA has a website dedicated to providing tips for protecting houses of worship. A 38-page FEMA guide for developing high-quality emergency operations plans also is posted on the Lake County sheriff's office website. "There needs to be a whole different mindset now of where houses of worship land on that spectrum of being completely welcoming or being the opposite," Church Mutual spokeswoman Dawn Bernatz said. "It becomes more and more of an urgent matter to make sure there's a plan in place."
• Daily Herald staff writers Elena Ferrarin, Robert Sanchez and Bob Susnjara contributed to this report.