Guardian Angels Back In The Capital Region

Last month the Guardian Angels made a trip to Albany to patrol neighborhoods, that were affected by the latest string of violence that has hit Albany. If you're not a native New Yorker you might not have any idea who the Guardian Angels are, the group was formed in the late 1970's to address street crime in New York City. The Group has grown to have several chapters across the country and even internationally.

The group sports red berets and patrol communities alerting law enforcement. The group was meant with controversy last week in Albany with many residents asking "Why Are You Here"? It looks like the people of Schenectady feel the same way according to the Daily Gazzette.

“I don’t think we need the Guardian Angels,” said Marva Isaacs, president of the Hamilton Hill Neighborhood Association. “They create more problems than what we have here.”

Schenectady hasn't had a homocide this year so why Schenectady is their latest place to come and visit has a lot of citizens concerned as well.

The role of the Guardian Angels, according to Sliwa, is to intervene in fights and disputes, calm down situations, and make a citizen's arrest if a crime is being committed.

Sliwa acknowledged they were met with some resistance by both residents and city officials in Albany who said they didn’t want outsiders trying to handle local issues.

But in areas such as Hamilton Hill, outsiders are the ones that are causing problems, Sliwa said, adding that many of them come from the Bronx or Brooklyn.

“People come up, settle up there, may have done a bid in prison upstate, decided they’re not coming back to the five boroughs and the next stop is Hamilton Hill,” Sliwa said. “It’s a problem.”

After the Guardian Angels are done setting up in Albany, Sliwa said they would be coming to Hamilton Hill next.

I appreciate the effort, but I think the reform or crime prevention and resolution has to come from people who reside in the community. I think the Guardian Angels methods are little outdated, doing the same thing that you have done since the 1970s seems like a cry for attention, versus really changing things in a community.

There are already people working hard to change Capital Region communities 24/7 365. The biggest question I have is what has the Guardian Angels done for crime reform in New York City in the past 10 years?