Four carjackings in one neighborhood in one day. By the end of the night, Baltimore Police had a suspect in custody largely because of a neighborhood organization also working to fight crime.
Shomrim is the Hebrew word for watchers. It's also the name of a patrol group founded in a predominately Jewish neighborhood in Northwest Baltimore.
They have uniforms, a website, and a 24/7 hotline but they do not have any police powers. They are like their name, strictly watchers, and it's what they saw on Sunday in the Park Heights neighborhood that helped lead to the arrest of a potentially dangerous suspect.
“A Shomrim member had seen the Chevy Malibu from earlier that day following the most recent carjacking car, which was a Hyundai leaving the area. That safety patrol member followed from behind while notifying the police department,” said Baltimore City Councilman Isaac "Yitzy" Schleifer at a news conference on Monday.
The safety patrol member was able to direct police and Foxtrot to where the suspects were traveling.
“We were able to give the police step-by-step block-by-block where we were following two of the cars that were stolen in carjackings and ultimately, the police were able to get those two cars,” said Ron Rosenbluth, president of the Baltimore Shomrim Safety Patrol.
On Monday, Baltimore police announced the arrest of a 15-year-old boy. They believe he and several other people may also be responsible for as many as eight carjackings that took place Sunday.
The Shomrim first caught onto the thieves after being notified about two carjackings that happened earlier in the day.
“When the fourth incident happened we had guys going to the corners not where it happened, but where we believed the suspects were going to go and sure enough they did,” said Rosenbluth.
Rosenbluth isn't surprised that his group's efforts led to an arrest. He said that's what they're designed to do.
“Somebody calls our hotline number, it goes to our dispatcher. Our dispatcher then puts it out to everybody and whoever's the closest will respond. So our typical response time should be a minute to a minute and a half,” said Rosenbluth.
Any of the 35 group members may respond. The Shomrim are not armed and they don't patrol looking for problems, they are strictly call-driven.
However, the group isn't without controversy. Back in 2011, two brothers and former members were accused of attacking a black teen as he was walking through the neighborhood. One of the accused was found guilty of misdemeanor charges.
“Every organization has had a bump on the road. Clearly it's happened with the police department as well, you get a bump you learn from it and you move forward,” said Rosenbluth.
He added they've become stronger and better and now average close to 200 calls per month.
“We're a good smart bunch of guys. We're trying to help solve crimes, fight crimes using our heads,” Rosenbluth said.
Rosenbluth encourages community members to call 911 or police in the event of an emergency. The number for the 24/7 Shomrim hotline is 410-358-9999.
