One group armed with guns is ready to make their New Haven neighborhood a safer place by patrolling in the area around Edgewood Park. They believe that the police are not doing their part to keep the streets safe.
Members of Yeshiva New Haven decided to take matters into their own hands after Rabbi Dov Greer was physically assaulted Sunday night. They say they’ve been appealing to the city for years with no results and are tired of sitting by while the vandalism, robberies and muggings increased.
They will be patrolling in pairs every night from 6-10 PM, with one person carrying a concealed gun.
“Anyone who patrols with a gun in an attempt to use it as a deterrent is putting themselves and other citizens at risk and I absolutely discourage it,” said Mayor John DeStefano.
DeStefano says he has looked at the deployment levels in the Edgewood Park area and believes the police coverage is sufficient.
The Defense Patrol says that they don’t believe this will make them targets, rather it will wake up the neighborhood and encourage others to join in. They say they will continue the patrols as long as necessary.
(WTNH)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
18 Responses
its mutar to defend yourself.
good luck to the defenders of new haven!
Sounds like “Every Jew a 22”
rav hamachshir,
are you meshuggaa?! there are better ways to deal with a case than making your own army- “Anu B’galus”…
Hatzloocha Rabba L’oivdei Hashem (“V’koivei Hashem Yachlifu Koiach”)!
Unless they have a CCW, they could get arrested and charged with carrying a concealed weapon.
The presumption is they have concealed weapons permits, otherwise the Mayor would have had stronger words.
…my concern is that they may defend themselves using excessive force when not necessary. How well trained are they?
Why did they assault Greer? Maybe because he told them that he doesn’t speak Spanish and asked them to speak English so that he will be to understand them! Immediately, the locals stopped speaking Spanish and switched to English, but not before beating him up.
Private police type patrols are the norm in Brooklyn in Orthodox areas eg Shomrim, they were also organized in Crown Hts.
Is this only permittd in Brooklyn ? but Jews in other areas can not protect themselves ?
More power to the Greers and their supporters.
perhaps we should allow potential victimes to carryt “mug money” on shabat (outside the eruv).
this issue was brought up in crown heights many years ago, and rav meir kahane hy”d said why carry mug money? if you allow carrying on shabat, allow a 22!!!
rav grier’s sister was the fifth of the yale 5 (later 4 when she legally married to get out of the case.)
his father is also an important personality, the first to insist on wearing a yarmulkah at all times in princeton. he is currently shtut rav in new haven.
you dont need no govt permission to operate a shomrim type org, but it is advisable to have as close contacts as possible to the local police, yet maintain a distance so as to be as independent as reasonable. thought yw commenters such as bneibrak and mdlevine would probably prefer they roll over and kow tow to the local (inefective) police.
The local mayor and police chief are negligent in performing their duties and should be ousted!! That peaceful, law-abiding citizens should have to defend themselves with arms!!!! A total shanda!
MiMedinat HaYam – go back and re-read my post. just because I do not show your bravado does not mean that I do not advocate self-defense. I clearly said that I hope that they are WELL TRAINED. Police with years of training in the classroom and on the job make mistakes and shoot those that maybe they should not have.
if the gun is used and a bystander is killed, what then?
if the gun is used and an unarmed mugger is killed, do you really think that the police are going to offer a reward to the shooter? Bernie Goetz went to jail and those that preyed on him had sharpened screwdrivers.
What if the mugger surprises them and gets the gun away from them and uses it on them? Chas V’Shalom.
what if the gun is pulled and a cop sees him with the gun out but does not see the real criminal. to the cop, the one with the gun is the pursuer.
There are many other scenerios where the Yid could end up in jail (yes, I know, what if they did everything perfectly and saved someones life is one of them)
once again – without all your macho, tough guy talk, proper training is essential AND that is my concern!
B’h those of us posting do not need to worry about the same issues these New Haveners face. This is not the first incidence of Jews being attacked-even on the very same block, and even a 14 year old!Hashem should just give them siyata dishmaya and hatzlacha and hopefully they will never need to use their guns. Also, they know what theyre doing, so even though they may not have the same training as policemen, theyre not just some random guys with guns.Yes, all those scenarios are possibilities, but they need to do SOMETHING, and this is what theyve come to.Maybe we should just daven for them instead of thinking up the ways it could go wrong.
i happen to be personally involved in this, and what happened to Rabbi Greer was extremely scary and traumatic, so the fact that they are finally taking a stand against their-and im sorry if this is a bit harsh-extremely scary neighbors, and trying to protect themselves is a very good thing in my opinion. the mayor would be wise to let them do whatever it is that they want in protecting themselves, unless he is willing to spend tax dollars on creating some sort of nightly police patrol himself. and mdlevine…they are trained..dont u worry
drummerboy – what I worry about is the riots of these animals and the lives of the Yidden if someone uses his gun (even correctly).
hope he realises that hashem is sending them a message they are missing the message by thinking that guns will protect them if hashem wants to get them he will
zugger…are you kidding me? ever heard of putting in your hishtadlus? u cant just sit idly by and watch the world collapse in front of you, you have to put in an effort, and if its your hashgacha pratis…then Hashem will help your effort, and if not, then not…but just saying that u can sit by and watch…thats just rediculous
this must be the result of shmira leaving a town due to the disbandment of a kollel
zugger…again with this? wat about all the kollelim and yeshivos that have opened and disbanded in brooklyn….is every mugging that goes on in the world due to that? who do u think u are to say that this is a result of something..are u a navi? do u know Hashem’s plan? because if u are one…then please, by all means, bring mashiach…but remember..the punishment for navi sheker is death…so watch wat u say please and stop spewing this garbage..