10 July 11 • 2019 jn N ews that a young man had been roughed up on his way home from synagogue on June 21 per- colated through the Jewish community the next week. The following Shabbat, a few men at the back of a synagogue held forth on the topic as they waited for ser- vices to begin. The pessimist began: “Did you hear about what happened last Friday night? “It’ s terrible. I don’ t know if it is still safe around here. ” Optimist: “You think it didn’ t happen like that in the old days? It did. That’ s why we have the security patrol on Shabbos and Yom Tov. Probably the kids only want- ed to cause trouble, or to steal a wallet and a phone. ” Pessimist: “Well, someone should tell them that on Friday night they won’ t find money or a phone on an observant Jew. ” A GOOD SAMARITAN On June 21, Lester Sloan was driving to his job as a caregiver when he noticed three teenagers attacking a man walking home from a synagogue. A Fox 2 Detroit report indicated the teens were “body slamming” the man, attempting to rob him in the process. “I saw the reflective vest fly into the air — they were tossing him around like a ragdoll, ” Sloan says. Sloan has worked as a caregiver for a client on Lathrup Boulevard near 10 Mile in Southfield for eight years, right where he witnessed this attack. When he saw the teenagers ganging up on the 27-year-old man, he stopped his car and ran toward the violence. “ As soon as I got out of the car, they all took off down the street in the dark — I couldn’ t see anybody or what kind of clothes they were wearing. ” The teens left the man bruised and beaten, but not seriously injured. The police were called, but the group of attackers had already fled the scene. After the attack, Sloan took to Facebook to talk about the incident on the Metro Detroit Crime Facebook page, sharing that he is “… tired of see- ing the beatings, the killings, robbing, all the senseless stuff. If you want some- thing, go get a job and pay for it like I do. ” POLICE & COMMUNITY COOPERATION Police are still on the lookout for the perpetrators, who Sloan believes live near Hilton Street. President Pro Tem of the Southfield City Council Michael “ Ari” Mandelbaum and City Treasurer Irv Moshe Lowenberg sent a letter to the community. Mandelbaum was moti- vated, he says, because “people in the community were nervous. ” The two used the letter to “reassure people there would be additional police presence. ” They also reminded people how they can help. The takeaway, according to Mandelbaum: 1. This was a crime of opportunity. 2. The police will have increased patrols for the next few weeks. 3. Police reports are helpful in identify- ing patterns and allow police to patrol in areas with specific crime issues. 4. Be alert. Walk in pairs. Wear reflec- tive clothing. Turn on porch lights, espe- cially in areas where there are none. Gary Sikorski, director of community- wide security for the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, advises those who are walking alone at night to practice situational awareness if traveling in a group is not a possibility. “Be aware of your sur- roundings, ” Sikorski says. “It’ s a lot easier to avoid a problem than to get out of a problem. It’ s sort of funny … as soon as a person that’ s up to no good sees that somebody else is pay- ing attention, that’ s often enough to have them move along or stop doing what they intended to do. ” Sikorski says he is impressed with the Southfield and Oak Park police depart- ments. “They have proactive relations with the Jewish community, ” he says. “They are engaged with our concerns. ” Sikorski’ s observations about police work come from long experience. He worked in law enforcement for 26 years and retired as a deputy police chief before accepting his position with the Jewish community. According to Sikorski, the private secu- rity service that monitors Jewish insti- tutions on Shabbat and festivals works closely with local police departments. Michael Eizelman of Oak Park super- vises the operation. “The security patrol in Oak Park and Southfield began about 10 years ago, after multiple troubling inci- dents, ” he said. “Some youngsters threw snowballs at a rabbi, knocking off his hat. Some teenagers hassled people who were walking back from shul. Some teenagers pushed and shoved Jews on the streets. None of this seemed seriously threaten- ing. They seemed like kids looking for trouble. However, there were too many incidents and they were getting more severe. People were getting nervous. ” At that time, Eizelman, along with a few other members of the observant community, met with Federation. “The Federation response was extremely helpful; they helped us analyze what we could do to remedy the situa- tion, and they found a donor to pay for the remedy. ” The donor preferred to remain anon- ymous, then and now, and continues to pay for this program. And the patrols continue, as Eizelman notes: “With funding from the Federation’ s donor, we hired a security firm to provide patrols of Jewish neigh- borhoods and institutions on Shabbat and Yom Tov. The patrols serve as eyes and ears as they drive around the neigh- borhood, escorting pedestrians and pay- ing careful attention to activity at syna- gogues, yeshivahs and the mikvah. Before every Shabbos and Yom Tov, I email SOS Security with details of hours, places and individuals requiring special attention. “For example, on Shavuos night, we can anticipate that people will be walk- ing in the neighborhood at all hours. My email lets the security firm know that they will be needed until morning. Simchat Torah is another late night. “This is not an inexpensive program, ” Eizelman adds. “Federation has been wonderful. They have never questioned the schedule when I ask for additional hours. ” ■ JN intern Michael Pearce contributed to this story. LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER Security Concern? Southfi eld mugging on Shabbat prompts look at community safeguards. Gary Sikorski Michael Mandelbaum Lester Sloan jews d in the