CSG gears up for a secure new year

NAOMI LEVIN

THE Community Security Group (CSG) is preparing for its busiest time of the year, according to executive director Amit Bar Giora.

Rosh Hashanah and the other yom tovs see synagogues packed, but Bar Giora says the CSG is readier than ever, with more enthusiastic volunteers trained to protect the community.

“This is the time when all of the CSG’s resources and all our volunteers’ time is devoted to doing the best we can to protect our community,” he said.

CSG will be at more synagogues for more hours this year, providing peace of mind to community members as they pray.

Cooperation with Victoria Police has also begun in earnest in preparation for this year’s holiday period.

“The community will definitely see us this year,” Bar Giora said.

And from shulgoers, Bar Giora has a request.

“This is also a time when the community needs to be more vigilant and report anything suspicious they see to CSG. All reports are followed up,” he said.

Speaking to The AJN last week, Bar Giora said the CSG is in a strong position and praised the level of volunteerism in the community.

“If I look at the past two years, the number [of volunteers] is growing at a rapid rate,” he said.

“We have a capability today to better cover all the venues in the community that we want to cover. And it is not only volunteers, we have also added more experienced staff to our organisation.”

With nine Jewish schools in Melbourne, a large community centre and plenty of other buildings, the CSG certainly has its work cut out for it protecting the community from attack.

And it comes at a cost, Bar Giora said.

The level of security we provide is strongly influenced by the contributions of community members,” he said.

“The CSG’s resources are constantly expanding to keep up with the security needs of the community.”

The CSG can be contacted on (03) 9523 0434.