GUARDIAN ANGELS ENCOUNTER TURBULENCE

The distinctive paramilitary gear of the Guardian Angels, who are in
Victoria on a fact-finding mission, triggered passionate reaction
downtown yesterday afternoon.

Two Guardian Angels co-ordinators, dressed in red, military-style
berets, red bomber jackets with the wings of the Angels emblazoned
across their backs, and red and white T-shirts, hardly started their
news conference beside the Johnson Street Bridge, before hecklers took
over.

"We just don't need citizens on our streets in red hats and
American-style law-and-order. Please don't spread your ideas round
here," said Bob Dechambeau, a Cormorant Street resident.

"We need our politicians to get on with more housing and more social
services. We don't need more cops and more people in red hats on the
streets."

As the strong smell of marijuana drifted over the group, Vancouver
residents Dennis Watson and Sebastian Metz, who have worked with the
Guardian Angels in New York City and helped set up chapters around the
world, struggled to explain the purpose of the Guardian Angels is to
make people feel safe on the streets.

"We work with the homeless, we help them. We don't harass or injure
them," said Metz, taking a feet-apart military stance.

Dechambeau was not convinced.

"I think they wear red coats to cover up their red necks," he
muttered.

However, his neighbour, Patrick White, believes the Angels should be
given a chance, especially in troubled areas of the downtown, such as
Cormorant Street.

Vandalism, needles stuck in tires and people using the street as a
toilet are common problems, he said.

"It's about 30 [crack-addicted] people really causing the problems,"
he said.

The Angel representatives were invited to Victoria by a group of
residents, led by Stewart Johnston, a lawyer with an office on
Cormorant Street, who has been active in trying to get street activity
cleaned up.

"I came to Victoria in 1978 and fell in love with the city and what's
happening in the downtown is breaking my heart. I can't sit by and say
nothing," he said.

The Angels, who train community volunteers to conduct safety patrols,
met with community representatives yesterday morning and will decide
later whether there is enough interest among residents to form a
chapter in Victoria.

That could be months or even years away.

"We wanted to see whether it is a tool we want to use," Johnston
said.

"They will only form a chapter if they are invited by a community
group."

The Guardian Angels, founded in 1979 in the Bronx, New York City, have
chapters in five Canadian cities, including Vancouver.

Their interest is stopping violent crime and Victoria's problem is
more property crime, but they also help stop graffiti and tagging,
Johnston said.

Guardian Angels chapters are funded by donation. Volunteers are
trained in everything from martial arts to first aid and conflict
resolution, Watson said.

"It's a crime watch, acting as eyes and ears for the police. The only
difference is we exercise our right to make citizen's arrests. If we
witness criminal activity the whole idea is to try and defuse the
situation and, as a last resort we will make a citizen's arrest," he
said.

That means holding a person until the police get there and using only
reasonable force, but if someone fights, the Angel can defend himself,
Watson said.

As the Guardian Angels strode through the downtown, ending up on
Cormorant Street, reaction was split.

"Yes, I am thinking of joining," said Jeff Hurry, owner of Joint
Pizzeria.

"I think it's a brilliant idea," said Brodie Vermeulen, watching from
the back of a construction truck.

Robert Randall, chairman of the Downtown Residents Association, said
he thinks the Angels could be part of the solution to the behaviour
crimes and anti-social behaviour by the "bar crowd."

Philippe Lucas of the Committee to End Homelessness in Victoria said
he worries about vigilantism.

Victoria's problems are poverty and substance abuse rather than gang
violence, he said.