Pittsburgh Public Safety Council discusses safety with Tree of Life congregation president

PITTSBURGH — It’s been more than five years since the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting that left eleven people dead, but lessons are still being learned.

Thursday evening, the Zone 6 Public Safety Council heard from Alan Hausman. Hausman works for the City of Pittsburgh Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. He’s also president of the Tree of Life congregation.

“It’s important for people to learn from what happened,” Hausman said.

He stressed the importance of training and highlighted changes made since the shooting.

“Take your basic run, hide, fight training. Learn steps you can take for an active threat,” he said. “In all facilities, we now have armed security. During the week, we don’t allow people in that don’t have appointments. During service time, we greet everyone in the hallway.”

Zone 6 Public Safety organizers tell Channel 11 the talk helped bring home what many had only followed from a distance.

“It gives human insight. You watch it on TV, and you’re not really connected. But when you know somebody was there, friends, colleagues, it really affects you,” Pat Freiss said.

If you are a member of a church or other organization, Hausman says free security assessments are available. You can find out more information here: https://pittsburghpa.gov/publicsafety/ema-about.

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