Building Resilience in the New Threat Paradigm:

Targeted Violence Against People of Faith

Atlantic City skyline with Rutgers and Stockton logos

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 and Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Registration is closed. The summit has reached capacity. If you have any questions, please email SUMillerCenter@stockton.edu

Reception

June 11 6:30pm - 8:30pm

The Summit featured a reception honoring Lee Levine and Rabbi Francine Green Roston for their community work. Proceeds supported future programming. Read more about the reception.

The Building Resilience Summit will explore issues related to Targeted Violence Against People of Faith from a pragmatic as well as an academic perspective.  It will build on field work engaged in by both the Rutgers Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience and Stockton University, and draw upon the practical experiences of faith leaders who have confronted extremist violence, the expertise of federal, state, local, and international law enforcement professionals, and research conducted by leading academicians.  The Summit’s overarching goal is to connect theoretical research with real-world experience in order to devise practical, achievable approaches to the problem of extremist violence.

Summit Objectives

  • Establish an Interfaith Resilience Coalition (IRC) of faith-based institutions and other stakeholders for ongoing information sharing and best practice exchanges within and among communities
  • Establish a unified approach and common standard for creating safer, more secure faith-based communities
  • Develop and strengthen relationships with law enforcement officials
  • Clarify the needs of faith communities in developing relationships with federal and state law enforcement; and
  • Publish in conjunction with the Summit an ongoing practical online guide to identifying and deploying best practices

Contact Information: Erika Cassetta, Erika.Cassetta@stockton.edu, (609) 652-4753.

Conference Agenda & Synopsis

View a gallery of photos from the conference.

8:00 a.m.

Breakfast and Registration

8:45 a.m.

Welcome and Opening Remarks

John Farmer - Executive Director of RU Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience and RU Professor

Paul Miller – Founder and Advisory Committee Member of the RU Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience

Lee Levine – Senior Partner at Levine Staller Attorneys at Law

Michelle McDonald, Ph.D – Chief Officer for Academic Programming, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at Stockton University

Jared Maples – Director of New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness

Colonel Patrick Callahan – Superintendent of New Jersey State Police

Assistant Secretary John Hill – U.S. Department of Homeland Security

9:30 a.m.

Opening Keynote: "Facing Down Extremism & Building Resilient Communities"

Introduction by Russell Deyo – Rutgers Miller Center Advisory Committee

Keynote Speaker – Rabbi Francine Roston – Glacier Jewish Community/B’nai Shalom Congregation in Whitefish, Montana

10:15 a.m.

Break

10:30 a.m.

International Expert Panel: “Mitigating Targeted Violence Against Vulnerable Communities”

Opening Comments – Ulf Johansson – Stockholm Police Commissioner

Moderator – Paul Goldenberg – Senior Fellow of RU Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience

Panelists:

Chief Saad Amrani – Chief Commissioner, Policy Advisor of Belgian Federal Police

Amir Rostami – Police Superintendent of Stockholm Police

Jonathan Biermann – Deputy Mayor of Uccle (Brussels)

Stephan J. Kramer – President of the State-Agency for the Protection of the Constitution of Thuringia (State Domestic Intelligence Service)

Shahzad Tahir – Community Cohesion Manager of City of Stoke-on-Trent

Gunnar Appelgren - Superintendent, Stockholm Police

11:45 a.m.

Lunch/Keynote: "Building Resilience of Citizens, Communities, & Countries: A Longitudinal Study of Best Practices Across Multiple Sectors, Domains & Populations"

Introduction by John Farmer – Executive Director of RU Miller Center

Keynote Speaker – Dr. Ronald Clark – Former Deputy Under Secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) of U.S. Department of Homeland Security

1:00 p.m.

Off-Site Exercise: “From Chatter to Shattered: How Social Media Rhetoric Morphs Into Real World Violence”

Sponsored by The Atlantic County Coalition for a Safe Community (LOCATION TO BE ANNOUNCED AT SUMMIT)

Facilitator – William Rice – Chief Operating Officer of Cardinal Point Homeland Security Group

1. State level LEA Panelist – Colonel (Ret) Rick. Fuentes – Former Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police

2. NJ Faith Based Leader – Perry Mays – Chairman of Coalition for a Safe Community in Atlantic County

3. Stockton Public Safety – Lieutenant Tracy Stuart – Stockton University Police Department

4. Brian Levin – Professor, Director of Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism

5. Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office – Captain Patrick Snyder – Section Commander of Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office’s High Technology Criminal Investigations Unit

6. Atlantic City Police Department – Lieutenant Ed Leon – Atlantic City Police Department

7. Kaleem Shabazz – Atlantic City Councilman, Stockton University Adjunct Faculty

3:00 p.m. 

Off-Site Activity: Rabbi Roston meets with students from Our Lady Star of the Sea Regional School

3:15 p.m.

Replicating Successes

Co-Presenters:

Major Brian Polite – Commanding Officer, Community Outreach and Public Affairs for New Jersey State Police

Patrick Rigby – Chief of Staff of NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness

Panelists:

Perry Mays – Chairman of Coalition for a Safe Community in Atlantic County

Chris Hill – President Emeritus of National Police Athletic League (PAL)

Captain Jamiel Altaheri – New York City Police Department

Michael Lewis – Regional Policy Officer in Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Mercia and West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioners Offices

Roger L. Parrino, Sr.– Senior Advisor of Security and Emergency Management at The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

 

8:00 a.m.

Breakfast and Registration

9:00 a.m.

Opening Keynote: “Unifying the Front Against Violence: an Attack on One House of Worship is an Attack on All”

Introduction by Paul Goldenberg – Senior Fellow of RU Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience

Keynote speakers:

Deputy Chief David Robinson – Dearborn, Michigan Police Department

David A. Nelson – Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Shalom, Dearborn Police Deputy Chaplain

Kassem Allie – Executive Administrator of Islamic Center of America

9:30 a.m.

Panel Discussion: Managing the Fallout

Moderator – Paul Goldenberg – Senior Fellow of RU Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience

Panelists:

Richard Benson OBE – Former Chief Executive of Community Security Trust (CST) – UK, Chair of UK Governments Challenging Hate Crime Support Group, President of UK Tell Mama

Todd Stettner – Former President/CEO of Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City

Jonathan Biermann – Deputy Mayor of Uccle (Brussels)

Chief Saad Amrani – Chief Commissioner, Policy Advisor of Belgian Federal Police

Adam Hammatt – City Manager of Whitefish, Montana

11:00 a.m.

An Overarching Issue: "Social Media – The Realities of a Double-Edged Sword: Understanding the Importance of Utilizing Social Media to Shape the Narrative vs. Becoming a Victim of it"

Moderator –Sean Griffin – Former Deputy Head of Counter Terrorism, Europol

Panelists:

Tony Sgro – Founder and CEO, EdVenture Partners

Bryan Cunningham – Executive Director of UC Irvine Cybersecurity Policy & Research Institute

Alex Goldenberg – Social Media Analyst at Cardinal Point Strategies

Susan Fahey, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Stockton University

12:15 p.m.

Lunch/Keynote: “Finding Common Ground Among Communities of Faith”

Opening Remarks – Sahar F. Aziz – Director of Center for Security, Race and Rights at Rutgers Law School:  “Connecting the Dots of Hate: Islamophobia and Antisemitism”  

Keynote speaker – Reverend Dr. B. Herbert Martin, Sr. – President of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago

1:30 p.m.

Stockton University Builds Resilience Through Education

Moderator – Robert Gregg, Ph.D – Dean of General Studies at Stockton University

Panelists:

Gail Rosenthal – Director of the Sara and Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center at Stockton University

Michael Hayse, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Historical Studies and the Master of Arts Program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University

Judith Vogel, Ph.D. – Coordinator of the Undergraduate Minor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Stockton University

Steven Marcus – Coordinator, High School Dual Credit Consortium in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Stockton University

Leo Schoffer – Chair of the Stockton University Board of Trustees

2:30 p.m.

Closing Roundtable: A Closed Door Discussion Between Selected Executive Leadership – Preparation for FBI Meeting/Presentation June 18

Moderator – Dr. Ronald Clark – Former Deputy Under Secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), US DHS

Todd VanCantfort – Executive Director, RIHSC

Tony Sgro – Founder and CEO, EdVenture Partners

Michael Gips – Chief Global Knowledge Officer of ASIS International

Richard Benson OBE – Former Chief Executive of Community Security Trust (CST) – UK, Chair of UK Governments Challenging Hate Crime Support Group, President of UK Tell Mama

Perry Mays – Chairman, Coalition for a Safe Community in Atlantic County

Reverend Dr. B. Herbert Martin, Sr. – President, Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago

Captain Jamiel Altaheri – New York City Police Department

Chris Hill – President Emeritus, National Police Athletic League (PAL)

Lieutenant John Paige – NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness

Kaleem Shabazz– Atlantic City Councilman, Stockton University Adjunct Faculty

Edward Kabina – Former Senior Police Advisor at U.S. Department of State

Michael Hurley – CEO of Team 3i LLC.

Barbara Abrajano – Vice President, Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago

Lance McCune – Strategic Faith-Based Advisor at Lance McCune Company

Barbara Bergin – Chair, Crime Stoppers USA

Bart McEntire – Co-Chairperson of Safety & Security at Mt. Horeb Methodist Church

Mark Genatempo – Fellow,  Rutgers University Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience