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An upscale Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood formed a community safety group after a homeless man attacked a woman and her dog with a stick in Prospect Park.

The dog, who the man also splashed with a container of his urine, later died of its injuries, according to independent publication Common Sense.

Last month’s incident motivated 59-year-old Kristian Nammack to start the “Park Slope Panthers” and hold its first meeting earlier in September.

Mr. Nammack, who works in sustainable finance and participated in the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement, advertised the group as much in the same vein as the “Guardian Angels” who patrolled New York City’s subways during the ‘70s and early ‘80s.

But the Park Slope Panthers want nothing to do with Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, who Mr. Nammack reportedly said wasn’t welcome to attend the meeting.

Mr. Sliwa was the Republican candidate in New York City’s mayoral race last fall, a stark contrast to Mr. Nammack’s politics, which he described as “left of Lenin.”

How exactly the group wants to carry out its mission remains unclear.

Multiple attendees agreed that they don’t feel safe in the park and that crime is more visible, according to independent publication Hell Gate.

To address that, the group aims to “Look for unusual situations, just get people to be alert,” Mr. Nammack told the outlet.

But as another attendee at the meeting put it: “It’s about finding a way that’s non-biased to report these things and have people feel like it’s safe here,” Common Sense reported. “You don’t want to fall into that stereotype of privilege.”

A group of people in their 20s wearing face masks arrived mid-meeting to briefly protest the group before joining it. They suggested approaching the homeless assailant, who is still at-large, and getting to know him so they could direct him toward the proper resources.

“Crime is an abstract term that means nothing in a lot of ways,” said one of the masked attendees, Common Sense reported. “The construct of crime has been so socially constructed to target black and poor people.”

The meeting concluded without any set actions, though all agreed that they didn’t think involving the New York Police Department would be helpful.

Days after the meeting, Hell Gate reported that Mr. Nammack suggested on the Nextdoor website that police arrest the homeless man.

Common Sense reported that the same homeless man was recently seen chasing another woman and her dog in Prospect Park before he said, while screaming, “Let’s see some action here!”

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.

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