Hasidic parents terrified by the savage murder of Leiby Kletzky are considering state-issued identification cards for their children that would make them easier to track if they go missing, The Post has learned.
The NYPD met with local members of the Shomrim patrol group and the Hatzolah ambulance corps in Williamsburg Monday night to discuss issuing Operation Safe Child cards to an estimated 25,000 Hasidic kids in Brooklyn, sources said.
The cards -- issued by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services and used since 2005 by the NYPD -- contain a child's birth date, height, weight and fingerprints
"We are trying to do whatever we can for the safety of the children in the neighborhood and the community," said Jacob Itzkowitz, 34, a Shomrim coordinator for Williamsburg.
Safe Child cards issued to Orthodox Jewish children might also feature other distinctions, like the address of a child's synagogue and yeshiva, said one person who was at the meeting.
"Last week's incident was 9/11 for the Jewish community. It changed the way we have to think about strangers," said Abe Friedman, 35, of Williamsburg.
Parents who sign their kids up for the cards will have their children's info stored in a database that sends out alerts to statewide law-enforcement agencies in the event of a disappearance.
Officials also want to increase the number of security cameras throughout Brooklyn's Hasidic neighborhoods to nearly a camera per every two city blocks. They would be paid for and monitored privately and not by the NYPD, Itzkowitz said.
Eight-year-old Leiby went missing last week after convincing his parents to let him leave day camp by himself.
Cops say he asked a stranger, Levi Aron, for directions, and Aron kidnapped and killed him, and then cut up his body.
Aron, 35, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
At the grieving family's home yesterday, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn visited a "tired and sad" Esther Kletzky, the boy's mother, to pay her respects as the family sat shiva.
"She was very, very gracious and very grateful for the outpouring of support," said Quinn. She also spoke with Leiby's three sisters, whose faces "brightened" when she asked them their brother's favorite things.
"He recently learned chess, and he liked to ride his bike and he really liked to ride his scooter, they said," Quinn added.
Police chaplain Alvin Kass also paid his respects.
"You can't make sense of the senseless, but we, the Police Department, wanted to show we care," Kass said.
No comments:
Post a Comment