Paul Goldenberg is a highly decorated law enforcement and national security professional. He was a co-founder of Secure Community Network, the nation’s first Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ASIS-recognized faith-based information sharing center, which has developed many of the security industries standards for faith-based security. Through his work as a member of the DHS Advisory Council, he has played a key role in setting domestic and international policy for the legislation and investigation of hate crimes, insider threat, countering violent extremism, information sharing, cybersecurity policy and establishing and managing public-private partnerships across the world.

Goldenberg led the efforts of the 2019 Subcommittee for the Prevention of Targeted Violence Against Faith Based Communities. In 2018 and 2019, he co-chaired the National Cyber Security and Foreign Fighter Task Forces. His public career includes more than two decades as a former senior official for the New Jersey State Attorney Generals Office, and commissioner/director of one of the nation’s largest social service and juvenile justice systems. 

During the 1990s and in the wake of highly publicized incidences of domestic terrorism and hate crimes, Goldenberg was appointed the nation’s first statewide Chief of Office for bias crimes, domestic terrorism and state community relations efforts. “What I am most proud of is that enforcement was only a minor part of our mission. We directed much of our efforts towards the advancement of programs focused on building trust between the most vulnerable groups among us and the police and security professionals who serve them. These included groundbreaking community policing programs based on cooperation and information sharing. Our team traveled to more than 20 states and 12 countries where we shared our works with academia, state and national police services and NGOs. And that, in turn, led me to my work as a senior fellow with the Rutgers University Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience and as liaison to the University of Ottawa where we continue these efforts today.” 

Goldenberg has received numerous honors while working as a law enforcement officer in urban Essex County, N.J. In addition, he served as a deep undercover agent for the South Florida Strike Force and was awarded Florida's citation for valor: Officer of the Year. 

“Throughout my career, I've had the privilege of working within a variety of roles in the law enforcement and transnational security profession. I had a rare opportunity the last four decades to witness the transformation of American policing and security  in all its manifestations,”  Goldenberg says. “The progression and soul searching underway since George Floyd's death will be difficult for some – nonetheless, galvanizing for others. A successful career is no longer judged on the number of arrests one makes, how many doors you hit in pursuit of the bad guy, or the number of tickets issued. Where most aspiring law enforcement and security professionals may once have been drawn to the exploits of SWAT, anti-Crime and or narcotics enforcement  – the newly minted officers will need to be more focused on community policing, building trust, engagement and taking on the role as agents of social change through their actions and commitment to the communities they serve.”