The following is from the Jewish Chronicle:

Shomrim is notoriously private. The strictly Orthodox security organisation does not have a website or a phone number listed online and it does not advertise in local newspapers. It is only when there is a crime committed that you may notice a group of bearded men appear within minutes, wearing identical dark jackets and speaking into walkie-talkies.

Despite their apparent secrecy, Shomrim and its activities have attracted huge interest. While the Metropolitan Police aim to reach an emergency situation in 11 minutes, Shomrim boasts a two-minute response time. Its 50 volunteers are on call 24 hours a day, and keep their walkie-talkies with them at all times, at home, work or in synagogue.

Based on the well-established New York model, the privately-funded service has two branches in the UK, both set up in 2008. Its north-west London arm is based in Golders Green and Hendon. Formed by a group of residents, it now boasts 30 volunteers with police training, uniforms and a free hotline which receives around 300 calls a month. It has aided police in catching a gang stealing money from cashpoints and in locating missing persons.

Gary Ost, chief executive of Shomrim North-West London, recalls: “Around Pesach in 2008 there were five armed robberies in Golders Green. Two months later there were a crisis in the Middle East and three people ended up in hospital after being assaulted. At that point we said: ‘Enough is enough’. We went to the rabbis. Then we met the police but were told that the borough of Barnet didn’t have a high crime rate, so they couldn’t justify more police. But we felt that was because crime wasn’t being reported.”

Poor reporting rates are endemic within the strictly Orthodox community. Police figures show Stamford Hill has the lowest crime rates in the borough of Hackney, but Nochem Perlberger, chairman of Stamford Hill Shomrim, says his group was set up because the lack of reporting meant police were not responding to the actual high level of crime. “If it’s not an absolute emergency, and even sometimes when it is, the community will just not call the police,” he says. “English is not the first language of the regular Stamford Hill person so when they are distressed after a crime, they find it hard to speak to the police.”

Shomrim was formed in Stamford Hill in August 2008. “The break-ins and muggings were beyond control,” Perlberger says. But the group did not get off to a positive start. “It began with a group of youngsters who had good intentions but were too young and a bit wild,” he explains. “I admit we were not professional and did not have training or a disciplinary process.”

When Chief Superintendent Steve Bending took over as Hackney borough commander in July 2009, tensions were already high between the Shomrim and police. “Under my predecessor, there was a lack of understanding by the police about why a community would want to have non-qualified people patrolling the area,” Bending says. “There was also a lack of understanding by Shomrim of the legal processes we have to comply with. They could potentially put themselves at risk.

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