Jewish Police in London?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2905047/Jewish-patrol-cars-force-London-amid-fears-copycat-attack.html

Since when did we have a Police force for a specific minority in London? What makes the Jewish community of London so special that they should be allowed their own private police force? Yes, they are only volunteers but they get police training and knife proof vests however I am curious who pays for the BMW shown in the Daily Mail report.

here is the Wikipedia page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shomrim_(neighborhood_watch_group)

I wonder how the authorities would react if other minorities decided this was an option for them?