BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — There is a nationwide spike in hate crimes, and 7 News is diving into how our communities are working to prevent them.
According to the FBI, hate crimes have been on the rise since 2014, increasing by 7% in 2022.
According to Governor Kathy Hochul, hate crimes in New York State spiked 90% between 2020 and 2022.
The Anti-Defamation League has also stated many of these hate crimes include anti-Semitic incidents.
To combat the issue in our backyard, there is a plan for heightened security and the funding to go along with it.
Thousands of dollars in capital funding is going to the Jewish Community Center.
This is all thanks to Erie County Legislator Jeanne Vinal, who was able to secure the $400,000 in funding for the JCC to upgrade its security at the Benderson Campus.
“There’s no security at any of these places because they weren’t built in that regard. It was a timely thing,” Vinal said.
Vinal said this move comes as anti-Jewish bias incidents have increased by 20% since 2021.
“In America and Erie County, we don’t want there to be a problem and we don’t want people not to utilize JCC which is really an important part of our community for so many people and because of that we want people to feel safe and secure and especially a group like this that gives so much more than they get,” Vinal said.
The JCC works and serves people of all ages, backgrounds, religions and cultures.
Jewish Community Center CEO Patty Simonson said, “We always tout our middle name is community.”
With two locations, about 300 employees, and 3,000 members and visitors per day combined, it will help make everyone feel a greater sense of safety.
Simonson said, “We need to build the infrastructure of our agency for security and safety for the members, for the staff and the community. This is integral in assisting us in doing that and keeping our facilities safe. We’re a community agency. We’re not just the Jewish community.”
Jewish Community Center Patty Simson said the money is set aside to harden their facilities but was unable to share that plan just yet.
“We’re working with local, national law enforcement, Secure Community Network to assist us in determining what those needs are, along with our facilities and security director, our community committees,” Simonson said. “As we start to implement some more of these components, people realize that we are taking action and that’s important to them. We’re aware of what’s going on in our surroundings, we’re aware of what’s going on in the community, nationally, internationally and so the focus is that we constantly are aware and that we address the issue as we deem appropriate for the JCC.”
