Shomrim (neighborhood watch group)

Shmira (Hebrew: שְׁמִירָה, 'protection') or Shomrim (Hebrew: שׁוֹמְרִים, 'watchers', 'guards') are organizations of proactive volunteer Jewish civilian patrols which have been set up in Haredi communities in neighborhoods across the United States, Canada,[1] the United Kingdom, Israel, Belgium, and Australia (among other countries) to combat burglary, vandalism, mugging, assault, domestic violence, nuisance crimes and antisemitic attacks, and to help and support victims of crime.

[2] In London, however, the Hackney Police Borough Commander Chief Superintendent Matthew Horne complimented Shomrim on this point, saying that "they will generally know when is the time to call us.

While initially successful, it was disbanded at the end of the decade due to political pressure amid allegations of lack of oversight and tense relations with the African American community.

[2][6][13] Similar patrols were later established in Haredi neighborhoods in Monsey, New York;[citation needed] Baltimore, Maryland;[3] Miami, Florida;[16] Waterbury, Connecticut;[17] and London, United Kingdom.

[26] Volunteers respond to a wide variety of crimes and cases, including reports of purse snatching, vandalism, car and bicycle thefts, and missing people.

[29] Shmira and Shomrim have been effective in apprehending suspects of burglaries[23] robberies,[2] assault,[2] car thefts,[30][31] vandalism,[32] domestic violence,[33] nuisance crimes,[34] and antisemitic attacks.

In 1996 a Crown Heights Shomrim volunteer was convicted of assault charges after repeatedly hitting a suspect on the head with a walkie-talkie after the man had been subdued.

He was suspended pending internal investigation, with Shomrim confident that he would be vindicated in court,[3] and was sentenced to three years of probation in 2012 and ordered to research and write essays on cultural diversity.

[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][excessive citations] Shomrim and Shmira maintain a strong working relationship with local police departments and regularly share their information on crime with officers.

The groups cite their faster response times, knowledge of their territories, and ability to speak Yiddish, the language of the Hasidic community, for the residents' preference.

[6] In London, however, the Hackney Police Borough Commander Chief Superintendent Matthew Horne complimented Shomrim on this point, saying that "they will generally know when is the time to call us.

[54] Both Shmira and Shomrim groups have been successful at securing taxpayer funding in member earmarks for their operations, allowing them to buy sophisticated equipment.

The Shomrim-run Brooklyn South Safety Patrol (BSSP),[57] which covers the neighborhoods of Boro Park, Bensonhurst, and Kensington,[22] has its origins in the 1980s when it was founded by Jacob Daskal.

[58] Brooklyn South Shomrim came to international attention as the coordinator of a massive volunteer search for Leiby Kletzky, an 8-year-old Boro Park boy who went missing while walking home from day camp in July 2011; he was later found murdered by a Kensington resident.

The Brooklyn South command center alerted other Shomrim patrols in Flatbush, Williamsburg, and Crown Heights, as well as Haredi communities in Monsey, Monroe, Lawrence, Passaic, and Lakewood, to mobilize up to 5,000 Orthodox Jewish volunteers for a block-by-block search for the missing boy.

[60] In April 2016, Alex Lichtenstein, a former Brooklyn South Shomrim leader who was Boro Park's liaison to the NYPD, was charged with bribing police officers to obtain 150 gun permits for $6,000 a piece, then selling them to community members for $18,000.

[62] The revelation was followed by Daskal's immediate resignation from his post as campaign treasurer for Simcha Eichenstein, a New York State Assembly candidate from the neighborhood.

[64] Members respond to armed robberies, burglaries, assaults in progress, missing persons cases, automobile accidents and general assistance to residents.

[65] While volunteers wear uniforms with a shoulder patch,[66] they are not authorized to make arrests, they will chase suspects and try to detain them by surrounding them and talking to them until police arrive.

[70] It was founded in 2010 by Rabbi Levi Leifer and has over 200 members who respond to emergency calls including robberies, shoplifting, assaults, vehicle theft, vandalism, missing persons, burglaries, and sex crimes among others.

In 2022, Shmira was in the headlines after volunteers successfully caught and disbanded multiple catalytic converter theft rings operating in and around the area, gaining praise from both the police[71] and relieved residents alike.

They work closely with local law enforcement agencies and community members to deter crime, provide assistance in emergencies, detain suspects, and promote a sense of security among residents.

Queens Shmira maintains a large fleet of marked vehicles equipped for a wide array of emergencies, including floods, road incidents and more.

LA Shmira works closely with the Los Angeles Police Department's Olympic Division and coordinates with the South Robertson District Council's Safety Committee.

[102] In November 2014, Ambassador Samantha Power mentioned Shomrim's offer in her speech[103] at the 10th Anniversary of the OSCE's Berlin Conference on Anti-Semitism,[104] Stamford Hill Shomrim have on many occasions received public praise from the higher ranks, as on one occasion by Metropolitan Police Superintendent David Grainger[20] after a successful double arrest for burglary on the vulnerable,[105] and have been lauded by Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime Stephen Greenhalgh.

[88] In June 2014 Stamford Hill Shomrim received a formal commendation award from the outgoing Hackney Police Borough Commander - Chief Superintendent Matthew Horne.

[110] In August 2014, Stamford Hill Shomrim organised its first annual Community Engagement Event where an estimated six thousand people participated,[111] for advice on crime prevention[112] and bike marking.

It was founded by Gary Ost in 2008 as a registered charity[116] which operates as "mobile neighborhood watch" and acts as eyes and ears to the local Community and the Metropolitan Police.

All volunteers have completed training from the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) in assisting to identify potential security threats and suspicious activity.

Jeremy Bedford Turner, one of the leading skinheads of the London Forum, was arrested for incitement to racial hatred following an antisemitic speech he made at the rally in which he called upon the protestors to "free England from Jewish control.