Law Enforcement Lounge 

 

Read about the newly opened JUSA law enforcement lounge, article from Baltimore Jewish Times. 

To help Support the lounge and your local Law Enforcement officers plese go to:

http://www.jewishusamd.org/donate

 

Law Enforcement Lounge Opens in Pikesville

 

Rabbi Chesky Tenenbaum, director of the Jewish Uniformed Services Association, opened a law enforcement lounge in the Pikesville Plaza building at the corner of Reisterstown Road and Slade Avenue to welcome officers during their time off.

“The law enforcement member could come in between shifts or when they needed some down time,” said Tenebaum, who has set up the space with a break area offering coffee, refreshments and cold drinks. He added, the lounge is for any law enforcement member; police, fire, military, Jewish or non-Jewish, men and women are welcome. He has worked to create a heimishe atmosphere, he said.
 

“An officer once mentioned to me that when they have to do their reports they want a quiet place, and the [main enforcement] office is generally not a quiet place” to do any type of paper work, he said. “That’s what got me thinking … it would be a good idea. I also offer one-on-one counseling here.” He added there is also a computer available for general use in the lounge.
 

Tenenbaum also provides cultural sensitivity training to non-Jewish officers through the Baltimore Police Academy for those who may end up serving communities in the northwest of the city.
 

The Jewish Uniformed Services Association, established about three years ago, covers the rental of the space, and Tenebaum, who is also a major and chaplain for the Baltimore City Police Department, raises funds for the organization, most coming from private donations, he said.
 

Tenenbaum is still working out a schedule of established hours for the lounge and is spreading the word throughout the force that it’s available for use. The space is “in the beginning phases, but is already in working order,” and he is there each day except for holidays.

 

Article and photo by MELISSA GERR, Baltimore Jewish Times