"The Sentinel" Newsletter

January 2005

Why Community Watch?

For the most part our greatest concern is the safety of our children. Where we live and raise our families is priority #1 on the list. The well being of a home depends on the environment that surrounds the community in which we live.

All across North America people are taking their communities back, starting with the neighborhoods they live in. Cleaning up abandoned properties, tearing down dilapidated buildings, and restoring homes from the turn of the century. Neighbors helping the elderly who can no longer take care of themselves or their homes The results have been dramatic. In neighborhood after neighborhood, resident organizing has helped close crack houses, board up or demolish abandoned buildings, curtail prostitution, and make schools safer. Residents have created new partnerships with law enforcement, elected officials and government agencies, foundations, religious institutions, and other community organizations. These partnerships have provided physical and financial resources to eradicate specific crime conditions while helping to build a stronger sense of community.

Recently drug dealers have been moving into well to do neighborhoods as was the case in Calgary, Alberta. Just a few years ago the city of Calgary bought helicopters for its police force. With a growing population of almost one million people came a large increase of drugs. In one neighborhood a home had been rented out with never a problem from the tenant. But the electric company reported that this home was using large amounts of electricity. From the air the pilot reported that the home had no snow on its roof. In the middle of January that was unheard of in this part of the world. The tenants had set up their basement as a garden, and were growing large amounts of marijuana. The police were able to uncover similar homes throughout the city.

Six years ago, homeowners in a middle-class Jewish community in an ethnically and racially diverse section of Brooklyn, New York, formed the Midwood Shomrim patrol to fight an increase in burglaries, robberies, car thefts, and quality of life nuisance crimes. The patrol began when Chaim Deutsch, 23 years old and a new father, was inspired by other volunteer patrols in adjacent neighborhoods and rallied 200 of his neighbors to organize a car patrol. The Midwood Shomrim patrol, then affiliated with other Shomrim patrols, operated by orthodox Jewish volunteers in several neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

Following the first year of the patrol's operation, Chaim Deutsch also formed a partnership with the Umma Group, a volunteer organization started in 1976 by five Muslim families. The Umma Group was highly regarded for its foot patrol, which had, over a few years, successfully stabilized Umma's violent and drug infested neighborhood. Since its inception, the Umma Group has grown into a multi-ethnic coalition of residents working together to improve the quality of life in their neighborhood. Over the years, the relationship between Midwood Shomrim and the Umma Group has evolved from sharing strategies for working effectively with police to taking a proactive approach to crime. While the two organizations patrol their own neighborhoods, Umma's executive director, Ed Powell, said they share the same radio frequency and sometimes, when responding to a particularly difficult crime condition, go on joint patrols or supplement each other's patrols. In addition, through the Umma Group's efforts, Midwood Shomrim learned how to identify potential criminal activity without assuming that criminals were more likely to be minorities. The patrol also operates a 24-hour hotline for residents to report crime information. Patrol leaders analyze this information to establish patterns and target their efforts accordingly. They also share the information with Umma and other neighboring patrols.

Patrol members monitor the courts as well. They are especially vigilant in following serious felony cases through the system. In addition, Shomrim leaders ask elected officials to pressure judges to impose maximum sentences for repeat offenders. Such programs are not easy to maintain and take dedicated members who want a change in their communities, but for those who do make a change their property values have gone up.

Organize to Fight Crime

When organizing to fight crime or any other issue, community leaders should pay attention to several important lessons:

• Don't be disheartened by the slow pace. Getting projects off the ground takes time. Often, crime problems have persisted for years before a community organizes to put up a fight. If the problem doesn't develop overnight, neither will the solution.
• Always follow-up and hold all parties to their commitments. Law enforcement agencies and elected officials respond to many different constituencies. The "squeaky wheel" theory holds true: constantly follow up with government agencies.
• Don't lose sight of the original goal, but be flexible in adjusting the project to make it more workable for everyone involved. "Keep your eyes on the prize," but stay smart about keeping your coalition together and learning from experience.
• Do be inclusive by reaching out to many segments of the community and to outside resources for guidance and participation. It's impossible for crime conditions to disappear without resident support and involvement. But it's hard for one community to do it alone.

--Dave Murphy