An initial planning meeting of the Fair Lawn Interfaith Council will be held Thursday at borough hall's council chambers.

In light of the recent anti-semitic bias attacks througout the county, both borough council and the police department decided that reconstituting an interfaith council would be advantageous to the safety and security of local houses of worship.

“With the number of instances that have occurred, we just can’t sit back and watch,” said councilwoman Lisa Swain who proposed forming an interfaith council at the Jan. 24 council work session. “We really have to make sure we are on top of this, from the local level to the federal level.”

The police department's intention in launching the council is to foster an environment where the leaders of Fair Lawn's religious institutions feel comfortable gathering on a regular basis to break bread and exchange ideas about community issues.

Sgt. Richard Schultz in Community Policing, who is spearheading the effort within the department, plans to add a block watch component to the interfaith council model that has worked successfully in Rutherford for the past 50 years.

"For them, meetings are hosted by each house of worship resulting in ownership of each by the group as a whole," Schultz said of Rutherford's interfaith council. "What that means is when one house of worship is attacked, all come together and stand as one, much like a family."

Police hope the interfaith council will open lines of communication between houses of worship, and between the religious community and law enforcement.

Participants will learn the appropriate security measures that each house of worship should take, how their congregants can help and how houses of worship can make the community a safer place by working together.

"The surest way to combat the ignorance that fuels bias crime is through the free exchange of ideas, sharing of our knowledge and fostering of religious and cultural exchange amongst our citizens," Schultz said.  "The more we know of each other, the more ownership we will have in each other's safety and the safety of our community"