Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp and Lieutenant Jan Monrad of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Special Operations Division on October 31st, joined the congregation of the Mount Freedom Jewish Center for a prayer service and a meeting concerning the security of the synagogue in light of the recent attack in Pittsburgh.
The congregation came together for a prayer service to mourn those who were murdered in Pittsburgh, Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger. Randolph Mayor Mark Forstenhausler was present and delivered the opening remarks for the evening following the religious service led by Rabbi Menashe East.
Following the prayer service and opening remarks, members of the Mount Freedom Jewish Center were able to raise their concerns and questions about the current safety and security of their synagogue during a question and answer session with a panel of security experts. The panel consisted of Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Special Operations Division Lt. Jan Monrad, New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness Detective Ehtasham Chaudhry, and Mount Freedom Jewish Center’s Security Consultant and President of Global Mark Security James Morrison.
Prosecutor Knapp said, “The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office will continue to work with our local partners of all religions to ensure they can practice safely in our county. Following the horrible attacks in Pittsburgh, we have worked with all of our state, county, and municipal law enforcement partners to ensure that there is an increase in patrols around all houses of worship. I would like to thank the Mount Freedom Jewish Center for reaching out to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and allowing us to participate in this program”.