Edgewood Patrol Disarms

A week after New Haven’s chief of police announced his resignation, Edgewood’s citizen patrollers announced they would lay down their arms.

“We are very pleased that this transformation is under way,” said Edgewood Park Defense Patrol leader, Rabbi Eli Greer (pictured above at podium), referring to Chief Cisco Ortiz’s planned departure. ​“Therefore, as of the end of November, our armed units will be suspended.”

Greer made the announcement on the blustery corner outside the Whalley police substation Tuesday afternoon, five months after his group first took to the streets with guns. His group of about 20 volunteers have been patrolling a 16-block area of Edgewood, two per night, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. About half of the patrollers carry guns, Greer said.

Members got together in June in response to a spike in street crime in the neighborhood. Since the beginning, the group withstood citywide pressure from the mayor, chief, neighbors and Guardian Angels to disarm. They often told the press they would lay down their arms if Chief Ortiz, whom they saw as responsible for a decline in community policing, stepped down. Ortiz announced last Monday that Jan. 18 will be his last day on the job.

“There was a need for a change in leadership, and that need has been met,” said a gleeful Greer. Greer declined to speculate on the reasons behind the chief’s resignation. He refrained from attacking the chief as he has in the past, and instead took a rosier tone. He said he was optimistic that ​“the issue of community-based policing has begun to be addressed.”

In the five months the black-T-shirt-clad patrollers walked the beat, there were no confrontations, according to both Greer and the area’s district manager, Sgt. Stephen Shea.

Shea commended the group for adding eyes to the street and contributing to a successful effort to curb street crime. Shea didn’t have statistics handy but said that crime has ​“dropped off” in the area since the group started its patrols.

Edgewood Alderwoman Elizabeth McCormack applauded the group’s effort: Though she had been concerned the patrollers’ guns could cause someone to get hurt, she said the overall contribution of the group has been positive. Life on Pendelton Street has dramatically improved over the last six months, she said.

McCormack thanked the group for ​“focusing attention on the neighborhood, on an issue that needed to be addressed.”

Reached for comment through a spokesperson, Mayor John DeStefano responded that he had always supported the group’s efforts except for the weapon-toting. ​“We continue to look forward to working with any community groups,” he said.

Greer said his group plans to continue walking, without arms, into the indefinite future.