Most of us living in Baltimore take it for granted that every night we see “NWCP cars” riding around our streets. After all, doesn’t every frum community have a patrol like we do? The answer is that no other community of any kind in the world has a patrol like NWCP! The Northwest Citizens Patrol is the model and benchmark for citizens patrols globally, and is the largest and longest-running of its kind on the planet. And no, most frum communities do not have any kind of citizens patrol, much less what Baltimore has. NWCP is one of the great and unique assets of the Baltimore Orthodox community.

For 32 years, men in our community have volunteered their time a few hours a night, once every seven weeks to patrol our neighborhood. If they were not willing to participate, give back, chip in, do their part and step up to the plate, there would be no patrol. Imagine if there were no cars patrolling at night in the neighborhood. Would you feel as safe? Personally, I always feel a little safer when I see a patrol car. And although I may not say anything to the person behind the wheel, I’m grateful for his presence.