What’s the RAVE app? Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder explain

Steps have already been taken in Nassau County to protect homes of worship. County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, alongside the NCPD House of Worship Team has implemented new security measures through an emergency alert app called RAVE that many institutions have already come on board with including Congregation Beth Sholom in Lawrence.

“In these trying times, we’re thrilled to have the government we have offering protection through our highly respected police force,” said Daniel Plaut, chairman of security at Congregation Beth Sholom. Plaut is also a Cedarhurst village trustee.

The new technology connected with the RAVE app was shown at a press conference held today at the Morrelly Center in Bethpage.

“We’re here today to talk about our ongoing effort to make Nassau County safer with our House of Worship Desk, which means we’ll have personnel dedicated to just the houses of worship, just as we have a desk for all of our schools,” Blakeman said. “We are using technology. We are using equipment. We are using engineering. We are using everything at our disposal to make sure that our communities are safe.”

Blakeman explained that the RAVE app basically bypasses 911 and goes right to the House of Worship Desk receiving immediate action and attention, making the response much quicker. “Time saves lives,” he said.

“85 percent of school shootings are over in 2 to 3 minutes, response time in Nassau County is 3 to 5 minutes,” Ryder said. “If I can close that gap between 2 and 3 minutes and stop the shooting, we save lives.”

He explained that the technology is integrated with human interaction and Nassau County has already provided the RAVE App to 263 organizations, 672 campuses and over 1,035 buildings. It was implemented at no cost to the taxpayer or the house of worship.

Blakeman stressed that this security system is available to all houses of worship.

Houses of worship can also register their video surveillance systems with NCPD and NCPD members trained in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, and will conduct an on-site security survey to review existing protective measure and provide suggestions for enhancements.

For more information, the NCPD House of Worship Desk, non-emergency number, call (516) 500-0657.