San Diego officials address Jew-hatred, seek to reopen state security grants

The Public Safety Committee of the San Diego City Council met on Jan. 30 to address rising antisemitism and hate crimes, with committee chair Marni von Wilpert calling for education, stronger enforcement and public accountability.

Von Wilpert, a Democrat running for California’s 48th congressional district, invited representatives of the American Jewish Committee to attend the briefing.

“It’s about addressing a very difficult topic, rising antisemitism in our community,” Sara Brown, regional director of AJC San Diego, told JNS.

“We’ve seen it rising across the globe, across the United States, and unfortunately, San Diego is no exception,” Brown said. She commended the council for bringing in experts to the meeting to clarify information and inviting the community to listen and offer feedback  during public comment and “to talk about some of the action items that they’re undertaking to try to address this scourge.”

Brown told JNS that the council has had a “clear moral compass when it comes to addressing antisemitism in our community and speaking out clearly and fearlessly.”

At the meeting, von Wilpert said recent incidents of harassment and vandalism reflect a broader pattern of antisemitism that has fueled fear and misinformation within the Jewish community.

She also announced plans to expand the “Ruth: Remember Us The Holocaust” exhibit to libraries across the city. The traveling installation presents the stories of Holocaust survivors through an interactive educational format and was most recently displayed at the La Jolla/Riford Library.

Brown, who holds a Ph.D. in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, said that while Holocaust education is not a “panacea” for combating antisemitism, it remains “certainly an important part” of the response.

Representatives from the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office briefed the committee on hate crime prosecution efforts, including work by the county’s Hate Crimes Team and officials overseeing gang-related cases.

The San Diego Police Department also discussed the role of its Real-Time Operations Center, which uses technology to support incident response and public safety during large-scale events.

“Information is power,” Brown said. “I’m grateful to them for offering that kind of briefing.”

Brown told JNS that von Wilpert and Councilmember Raul Campillo said they are in communication with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office to advocate for reopening the California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program to assist organizations facing security threats.

The program, which grants $76 million for “funding support for target hardening and other physical security enhancements to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk for violent attacks and hate crimes due to ideology, beliefs, or mission,” is closed for the 2025-26 year.

“It’s extremely important that the state offer nonprofit security grant funding to support its communities that have to take these extraordinary steps to secure their community and ensure that they can gather in safety,” Brown told JNS.

In 2024, the grant program allocated nearly $2 million total to Jewish organizations, including synagogues and schools, in the San Diego area.

Brown told JNS that she appreciates advocacy at both the state and federal levels to ensure Jewish communities have access to these resources, but “it is unfortunate and horrific” that they are needed in the first place.

“In order to go to a synagogue right now, you have to go through multiple layers of seen and unseen security in order to be able to go and pray in your place of worship safely,” she said. “That is unacceptable.”

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