Several of those questions were asked to newly assigned Baltimore City Police Northwest Major Latonya Lewis, who invited the public to the Crime Town Hall meeting held at the JCC-Park Heights on Monday night. [Many thanks to Barak Hermann, President of the JCC for hosting this meeting.] She and Northwest supervisory officers, Lt. Col. Robert Smith and Captain Jason Yerg, were introduced by Baltimore City Police Commissioner Kevin Davis. After their presentations, a Q & A session answered just some of the questions that the packed crowd, representing a cross-section of our community, had.

Questions included: Why can’t we introduce a New York City Mayor Giuliani zero-tolerance approach that was so successful? What additional resources will the police department employ? Were the juveniles arrested released, did they live in the area, and do they attend Northwestern High School?

When someone from the audience asked if the police felt that the Jewish community is being targeted, Captain Yerg responded, “We have no indication that they are targeting any member of this community simply because of their religious faith, beyond that, criminals look for crimes of opportunity and an area that pays maximum dividends. So, if we are looking at it just from a simplistic view, am I going to go down to Queensbury and break into a home where they might not have electronics, or am I going to come to the top of Sector 3, where I know they have electronics, and I know, in some instances, they don’t even call the police?”

“If there is an emergency, 911 is the first call you should make,” added Captain Yerg. “If you don’t call, there is no documentation that says this area needs more resources. One way resources are allocated is by call volumes. If you have a crime in your house and you say, ‘I’m not going to report this; ‘It’s not that big of a deal; or, “I’m not sure if they took anything”, you are doing yourself, the community and ultimately us, a disservice.”

Captain Yerg assured the audience that additional resources were sent throughout the city to assist our community. “Those additional resources, in addition to Shomrim and all the patrol resources that we have---all the eyes and ears we’ve had on the ground--paid big dividends,” noted the Captain. “And, those big dividends, in the way of last Wednesday night, enabled us to take into custody two juveniles who we feel were responsible for a large percentage of the burglaries and since, we have seen a cooling off with that.” 

Although things have cooled down, boruch Hashem, this recent rash of crimes has been a wakeup call for our community. Alarm sales, gun permit applications, and realistic tactical training registration are all on the rise in our community, and private undercover police officers have been privately hired to patrol. No longer are we the “soft target” we once were.

Crime prevention advice shared by the commanders, included: Get an alarm or some kind of noise making system. Windows and doors, especially on the first floor, should remain locked. Electronics--write down the serial number and keep it in a safe place, so the police can follow up with the Baltimore City Police Department pawn store units. Write community impact letters that allow the judge (or master) to hear from the community the impact which this individual’s crimes have had--it may go a long way towards detaining them for a longer period of time. Be good neighbors to each other--look out for each other, especially if you know they are away from their homes. Don’t make it an easy attempt for these burglars--hide keys, purses, phones in your homes. When you leave your house, leave your TV or music on. Don’t leave mail in the mailbox or on the porch. Don’t leave your house dark.

“It has to be a joint effort in every community, because we don’t see everything that you see,” noted Major Lewis. “We aren’t in your community 24-7, so we need your eyes, your ears, your input and your teamwork to try to be successful, not just for the burglaries, but for all crime throughout the city.”

Northwest District Detective Maurice Himes reported that because Baltimore County is more stringent than Baltimore City with regard to prosecution of juvenile perpetrators, the arrested juveniles were transported to the County, where they will be more strictly prosecuted for the burglaries they committed in both the City and the County.

“We know who they are, we know who all the players are, but the problem comes back to can we prove--and do we have any evidence--that they were in your houses?” explained Detective Himes, who distributed color flyers picturing the stolen possessions found on these juvenile perpetrators.

One woman in the audience, whose door was kicked in and her home was ransacked, brought up the problem of police officers who apologetically tell homeowners they cannot write up a report. “By no means is it coming from the top not to write the report,” clarified Lt. Col. Smith. “This is how we track crime, by our analytical data. If reports are not taken, we can‘t get the resources….Just like in any line of work, you have some lazy officers, you have some lazy lawyers, you have some lazy doctors, but at the same token, if I find out, they will be dealt with.”

Impressive was the fact that the police commanders did not try to defend the department when it was not as responsive as it should have been to 911 callers. They advised: If you are not happy with regard to how the police handled a case, first request to speak to the officer’s supervisor. If your issue remains unresolved, contact either Major Lewis, Lt. Col. Smith, or Captain Yerg. They can be emailed in the following format:   

firstname.last name@baltmorepolice.org. 

Captain Yerg made special mention of the warm behind-the-scenes partnership that the Northwest police district has with our community, via NWCP, Shomrim, Councilwoman “Rikki” Spector, and Betsy Gardner (Neighborhood Liaison-Baltimore City Council Presidents Office). The Captain also thanked Democratic Central Committee member/Baltimore City’s Fifth District Councilman candidate Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer for his excellent community-wide burglary prevention initiatives.

After the meeting, I had a chance to schmooze with just some of the attendees about the meeting, in particular, and the crime issue, in general.

HaRav Moshe Heinemann, shlita, Rav of Agudath Israel-Park Heights: “If your burglar alarm goes off on Shabbos, you are allowed to turn it off with a shinui--for example, your elbow or knuckles. If the alarm company will call you first, before the police would come, you have to tell them it was a mistake, so you are allowed to knock off the phone with a shinui to tell them it is a false alarm. If Yidden would not answer the phone when they call up, the police will not come anymore on Shabbos because they will come and if it’s a false alarm, they will say: If it’s a Yiddishe home, they are not going to come. It is a question of pekuach nefashos. If you see something that is merely suspicious, you should not call 911 or Shomrim on Shabbos, however,  if there is a break-in, in your own home or someone else’s house, after you see it, you are allowed to call them on Shabbos, because it could be pekuach nefashos, dangerous.”

Councilwoman “Rikki” Spector: “I am always gratified to meet with my community and the police department or any of the governmental people because we accept partnership. We don’t expect government to do it, the police to do it, so my constituency makes me proud. I think this was a very good opportunity for the community to recognize how seriously we are taking this problem.”

Betsy Gardner, Northwest and City-Wide Jewish Community Liaison for City Council President Jack Young: “It is so important to have well-lit neighborhoods and streets; that is a deterrent. Along with the Councilwoman, I am going to contact the Department of Transportation and have them do a street lighting survey throughout the communities. We do this periodically…Regarding surveillance cameras, Cheswolde has video lottery funds that the five communities have received. Cheswolde is working up a plan along with the police department to see if it can do a pilot program, using Cheswolde as a model, to put them on private homes. The city does not have funding for putting up these cameras; they cost thousands of dollars. Those set up along Park Heights where the shuls are were funded by Homeland Security many years ago…Please stay vigilant. Keep your doors and windows locked. Keep your car doors locked, and don’t keep anything of value in your car. We should be taking different routes home every day. Be aware of your surroundings.”

Shulamis (Koffler) Weinreb: “We are being targeted not because we are Jews, but because we are a soft target, we‘re easy money. The real onus for us is to make ourselves a less easy target or a hard target. I think there are many things we can do, ourselves, within our own homes in our own neighborhoods, to try to make ourselves harder to take advantage of. I think we need to take a look at everything that we do, in the house and outside the house and around, and have a greater consciousness about this whole issue and how we can make ourselves less attractive to a potential thief.”

Soozie Seiden: “It’s all about us, not about them. It’s nice to have a police presence, but the truth of the matter is police can’t take care of us. I noticed that one of my neighbor’s backyard gate was open. It’s not usually open. I don’t know why her gate was open. Maybe someone was trying to break into her house going around the back. I called her. That’s what it is all about. It’s all about us watching us. It’s all about our community taking care of our community.”

Rabbi Ovadiah Bander: “I feel the meeting tonight was very productive and I think it was a real pleasure to have a give-and-take with the senior leadership of the Baltimore City Police Department….I feel they had a strong performance of showing and I feel that they really came to listen. If not outright, they made many declarations that were close to promises to say that 2016 will be a year of better policing, and that to me really matters. That’s a concrete declaration.”

Shomrim General Counsel/Law Enforcement Liaison, Nathan Willner, Esq.: “I was very encouraged by the words that the police and the community said. It was very clear that the police are working strongly with both Shomrim and the NWCP. They gave some very, very practical advice and it was also an opportunity for victims of crime in our neighborhood to be able to explain the challenges that they had with different officers, but also to compliment the officers that really did do a great job. What we’re hearing is that the vast majority of the police do a fine job and are really dedicated professionals and now that our community has the resources, it knows where to call if they are unhappy, that is really going to go a long way.”

Northwest District Detective Maurice Himes: “At this point in the investigation, we believe we know who all of the players are in these burglaries, and we are looking into each and every one of them. We also think we know who did the hold-ups.”

NWCP President Neil (Nachy) Schachter: “It’s impressive to see how everyone in the community--the Rabbonim, community leaders, Shomrim, and  NWCP-- is working together to address  this problem…The way that we are going to receive siyata d’shmaya,  is by continuing to work together  as a united community .”

Rabbi Ariel Sadwin, director of Agudath Israel of Maryland's Commission on Legislation and Civic Action: “Although the feelings of concern are still prevalent in the community, the reassurances provided by police leadership on Monday, coupled with the recent arrests have helped relieve some of the collective anxiety of the last several weeks.”

Democratic Central Committee member Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer: “I think this meeting was long overdue. I’m glad it finally came to fruition. The community was happy to have an opportunity to voice their concerns...I am pleased that the Captain made mention of my Burglary Prevention Program that I assembled with the City Police, Sheriff’s Department, and the States Attorney’s office, in conjunction with both community groups. Since that event--the first time that they were working together in Baltimore history--they are now working together on a minute-to-minute basis, to resolve this crime issue. [Yitzy coordinated a Burglary Prevention Day--an ongoing program that he coordinated a few weeks before all these burglaries started. From that one event, they visited 50 homes and told the homeowners where their security vulnerabilities are. Most of those people had been victims, previously, of crimes, so the program helped prevent them from being victimized again. The program was so well received, it still gets daily requests from homeowners, and will continue as long as there is a demand.] In addition to Burglary Prevention Day, I am also finalizing the details of the Cheswolde Security Camera Program that has been held up by the city for the past 4 years. Months ago I met with the head of Citiwatch for a site study and we have four locations tentatively approved around the perimeter of Cheswolde on city property to install city cameras just like those placed on Park Heights through the Citiwatch community partnership program. 

To sign up for a free home security assessment (by a police officer in conjunction with one of the neighborhood watch groups), send Yitzy an email: Isaac.schleifer@gmail.com.

Video Credit: Baruch Bitman 410.653.0666

[Note: The video, below, of Monday’s Crime Town Hall meeting is unedited for the benefit of all those who were unable to attend the event, so those readers will not miss a word.]