Thread by @MesMitch

Jewish groups push back against police surge in wake of antisemitic attacks
Liberal groups say the new policing measures put forward by Mayor de Blasio will divide communities

Over the weekend, de Blasio announced several new policing measures in response to seven hate crimes in as many days, culminating with an attack in Monsey,

New York, that left five members of the ultra-Orthodox community wounded after a knife-wielding assailant stormed the house of a rabbi.

The measures include stepping up police patrols in neighborhoods including Borough Park, Midwood, Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Williamsburg, as well as establishing community-based neighborhood safety coalitions overseen by the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes.

In addition, the city announced an increased NYPD presence at houses of worship and during local events. Six new surveillance towers and additional security cameras will be installed throughout the neighborhoods.

But the announcement drew push back from some quarters mindful of law enforcement’s often troubled relationship with African American and Latino communities,

especially as the additional policing is happening in neighborhoods where his predecessor’s stop-and-frisk policies are recalled for being applied unjustly and along racial lines.

“This is what dividing vulnerable communities looks like,” said Jews for Racial & Economic Justice in a tweet. “Instead of investing in restorative solutions that prioritize the safety of all communities is implementing a plan that

treats abuse of Black and Brown communities as the answer to antisemitic violence. It isn’t.”

After an attack on a synagogue in Pittsburgh earlier this year, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice took a similar stand against plans by the Trump administration to step

up security around places of worship, warning that “increased police presence and security will militarize our community spaces”.