Joshua Judah has been named the Secure Community Network’s (SCN) regional security advisor for Jewish Louisville, taking a leadership role in preparing synagogues, agencies and people here for any threats to their security.
Judah, a Louisville resident, will be introduced to the community during a reception and town hall meeting from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Thursday, July 21, in the Trager Family JCC.
As SCN’s full-time representative in Louisville, Judah will develop and administer a program of risk mitigation, security consultations, assessments and training.
He will conduct frequent trainings and exercises using SCN’s courses in how to identify and report suspicious activity; prepare for an active threat; what to do during such a threat (the Run-Hide-Fight scenarios) and if someone is hurt.
Judah comes to the SCN from the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD), where he served for over 21 years, starting as a patrol officer, moving up to detective in the Crimes Against Children Unit, then field sergeant, and lieutenant in the office of the chief of police.
As the commander of the Technical Services Unit, Judah led systems such as body-worn cameras, vehicle cameras and computers, investigative software applications, and gunshot detection systems.
He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, serving as assistant chief of the Patrol Bureau and commander of the Administrative Bureau.
He was named LMPD’s Commanding Officer of the Year in 2015.
A graduate of Centre College, where he majored in history and minored in religion, Judah went on to earn a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Louisville.
He is a graduate of the Academy of Police Supervision at Eastern Kentucky University, the Southern Police Institute’s Administrative Officer’s Course at the University of Louisville, the Bingham Fellows program through Leadership Louisville, and the FBI National Academy.
Judah served as a board member for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kentuckiana and has contributed extensive volunteer work to the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana.
The official safety and security arm for the Jewish communities in North America, SCN works across 146 Federations, 50 partner organizations, over 300 independent communities. It also runs the National Jewish Security Operations Command Center in Chicago, which includes a 24-hour Duty Desk that serves as the central intake and distribution point for incident and threat reporting, analysis, information sharing and incident tracking.
SCN’s intelligence analysts also identify and review threats around the clock and coordinate as needed with law enforcement agencies and Jewish facilities.