(JNS.org) Jewish crime-fighting volunteers in London met over the weekend with Muslim leaders and agreed to patrol mosques and other Islamic buildings to reduce anti-Muslim hate crimes.

The London-based Shomrim are Jewish volunteers who collaborate with authorities to prevent crimes, including hate crimes. Since the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby on the street by Muslim extremists in southeast London, anti-Muslim hate crimes have risen in Great Britain.

The local Muslim community turned to the local Liberal Democrat councillor, Ian Sharer, who connected them to the Shomrim, the London Jewish Chronicle reported. “This is a very serious situation, and so I thought, why not call my friends from Shomrim? We wanted to see if we could offer them protection and also security lessons,” Sharer said.

The collaboration is “just the beginning of a long-term partnership between the two communities,” said Shomrim patrol supervisor Chaim Hochhauser.