THE ANGELS ARE NOT VIGILANTES

As the Ottawa Police Service closes the door on the world's largest
non-profit safety-patrol organization, the Vancouver Police Service
has announced that it will actually help in training Guardian Angels
members. We hope that this will set the standard here in Canada, and
further highlight the integral role that the Guardian Angels can play
in rebuilding every community where city and police budgets are no
longer able to make people safer.

Each Guardian Angels member is fully trained in first aid and CPR (on
par with local police services), criminal code and "use of force"
procedures, diversity training, situational training, self-defence
and physical fitness to ensure that the members can patrol for the
standard four-hour period.

Ninety per cent of what the organization does on the street is about
being good neighbours and being a proactive presence.

In today's society, what is lacking is good, credible witnesses. We
hear over and over about a stabbing or shooting in a night club, with
300 to 400 people in attendance, and the police can't find any
witnesses to come forward. The Guardian Angels are those good,
credible witnesses.

Our interest in Ottawa was due to dozens of e-mails from Ottawa
citizens concerned about safety in the community following the murder
of Jennifer Teague, as well as other high-profile crimes. The
Guardian Angels are not outsiders, they are local residents who just
want to make a positive change in their communities.

A patrol consists of a minimum of six women and men who have gone
through the three to four months of training. Members do not carry
weapons of any kind and are trained not to get in harm's way. The
Guardian Angels leave policing to the police and abide by all
municipal, provincial and federal laws.

Each applicant must provide a completed application form that must be
accompanied by a full police clearance letter detailing all, if any,
past criminal history. Reference checks are done (three are required
on the application) and further checks are made to ensure all
prospective members are of good moral character and have a mindset
that is in line with the organization, before they can become part of
the Guardian Angels team in any given city.

With the ignorance and misinformation that continues to surround the
Guardian Angels, it should be noted that in the 27 years the
organization has been operating, now in more than 80 cities around
the world, there has never been a Guardian Angels member convicted of
any criminal or civil offence committed while on duty.

With government and policing agencies being convicted left, right and
centre for abuses of public trust, you would think the Guardian
Angels would have been called to task by now for some of the
so-called vigilantism that the organization has mistakenly become
famous for, and been brought before the courts at least once in 27
years, if there were any truth to the matter.

Please, let's stop painting the Guardian Angels with the "vigilante"
brush. The Guardian Angels have been an asset to every community they
have come into.