GUARDIAN ANGELS SCOUT CITY FOR SUPPORT

Founder Of U.S. Anti-Crime Group Meets Monday With Calgary Police

A Saturday afternoon inner-city tour began with a drug addict
screaming for her confiscated box cutter and a crack pipe ripped from
a woman's hands, and ended at a peaceful pro-pot rally.

Welcome to Calgary, Guardian Angels.

Curtis Sliwa, the U.S.-based founder of the anti-crime group, toured
the East Village at the start of a three-day assessment to try
setting up a Calgary chapter.

"This is New York City Times Square circa 1989," Sliwa said as he and
two chapter members from Denver fearlessly approached drug addicts
and dealers under bridges, at the Riverfront Avenue park near the
Calgary Drop-In Centre and at the infamous "Crack Cul-de-Sac" at 4th
Street and 8th Avenue S.E.

Clad in their trademark matching red berets and jackets, the trio's
assertiveness in the greenspace known as "Needle Park" brought on a
slew of racial slurs and profanities. But Sliwa said by striding
directly up to drug users huddled in groups, the unarmed men
delivered their message.

"Is this yours?" he asked an agitated and twitching young woman after
grabbing a box cutter off the ground near the Salvation Army Centre of Hope.

The rail-thin and dishevelled woman screamed profanities and threats
but Sliwa stood his ground.

"Do you use it for protection?" he said, tossing the confiscated
knife out of her reach. "That can be used as a weapon."

A few metres away, Sliwa and Gray Fowler wrestled a lighter and a
crack pipe from a woman's hands. Fowler crushed the pipe under his
black leather boot.

The Guardian Angels have chapters in 60 cities in six countries. For
27 years, the non-profit group that some call vigilantes has worked
to deter street crime. Volunteers take a three-month training program
that includes CPR and martial arts.

Sliwa said at least 28 Calgarians requested the Guardian Angels come
to Alberta. After his Calgary tour, he'll visit Edmonton.

"I wouldn't have expected to see this," said Sliwa, who recalls a far
smaller "cowboy town" when he lectured at Mount Royal College in the
late 1980s and in 1991.

On Monday, Sliwa will meet with the Calgary Police Service in hopes
of gaining their support.

"There's no police department, no matter how sophisticated, no matter
how many members, has enough men and women to be every place and
everywhere at the same time," Sliwa said.

Calgary police run Block Watch, Neighbourhood Watch and Radio Patrol
programs, but have welcomed the meeting, said spokesman Robert Palmer.

Monday's city council meeting will debate a proposal backed by Mayor
Dave Bronconnier to spend $15.7 million on public safety initiatives
to make downtown and the Beltline safer.

Janet Saretsky, who owns a business across from the Cecil Hotel, is
one of the people who asked the Guardian Angels to visit Calgary.

"I used to be scared, but now I'm angry," she said. "These guys are necessary."