In response to press reports of plans to organize armed
citizen patrols of Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Agudath
Israel of America issued the following statement:
"While the safety of the Jewish community is certainly an
issue of rightful concern in these deeply troubling times, we
take strong exception to the irresponsible notion that Jewish
security in this country is enhanced by encouraging civilians
-- especially `members of [a Jewish defense group's] youth
movement,' according to press reports -- to patrol the
streets with bats and firearms.
New York City is blessed with a dedicated, highly trained and
capable police force, whose members put their lives on the
line for all of us every day. And while citizens are entitled
to call as necessary on New York's Finest, and to work with
them to upgrade security in times of potential danger, they
should not attempt to stand in police officers' stead."
The New York Times reported that New York Police
Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly has warned the Jewish Defense
Group that its members face arrest if they go ahead with
plans to form armed vigilante groups to defend two
predominantly Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn.
"The department will not tolerate anyone brandishing weapons
under the guise of protecting others," said Police
Comissioner Kelly. "Anyone attempting to patrol the streets
armed with a weapon will be arrested."
The Times reported that a local rabbi has organized
volunteers armed with baseball bats and pistols to defend the
neighborhoods from terrorism.
The "Jewish Defense Group" of Rabbi Yakove Lloyd has 55
volunteers ready to patrol the neighborhoods of Borough Park
and Flatbush every night from 9:00 P.M. to 3:00 A.M.
Lloyd said the street patrols would include 50 to 200 people
of different religious faiths, mainly Jews, carrying shotguns
in bags, along with people licensed to own and carry other
types of firearms. Others will carry bats, pipes, cell phones
and walkie-talkies and patrol the streets daily from 9 p.m.
until 3 a.m. except Shabbos.
The defense comes in response to a report that those
responsible for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center in
which 6 people were killed had originally targeted Jewish
neighborhoods in Brooklyn, one of the five boroughs of New
York City.
The largest segment of the population in the Borough Park and
southern Flatbush neighborhoods of the Brooklyn borough is
charedi. There are 290 synagogues in the area.
Meranwhile a group of Brooklyn lawmakers said that students
at private and parochial schools are unprotected against
threats of terrorism, and they called on the city and state
governments to boost security at 700 such schools
statewide.
The call to increase security was made after Brooklyn
Assemblyman Dov Hikind and City Council members Simcha Felder
and Bill de Blasio found serious lapses in security at 74
local yeshivos they have visited since October 2001.
