Institution

Shomrim (Shmira) שומרים / שמירה

Volunteer Jewish patrols that guard Haredi neighborhoods and help find missing people.

Shomrim ("watchers") or Shmira ("protection") are volunteer Jewish civilian patrols set up in Haredi neighborhoods in the US, Canada, the UK, Israel, Belgium, Australia and elsewhere, to deter burglary, vandalism and assault, support victims of crime and help locate missing people. Volunteers are generally unarmed and have no arrest powers beyond a citizen's arrest. In Brooklyn, Baltimore and London many residents call them before the police.