ANGELS NO HELP TO POLICE: CRITICS

Group Says Weekly Patrols Act As Deterrent

They came to Calgary with their trademark red berets and plenty of
fanfare, but critics charge that the Guardian Angels have been
practically invisible in the fight against crime since they began
patrolling the inner city last year.

The Guardian Angels -- volunteers whose aim is to safeguard Calgary
streets and act as additional eyes and ears for police -- pledged to
deter crime and break up fights.

However, with increasing public attention on inner-city crime, many
say the Angels have not lived up to their promises and are a
non-entity when it comes to deterring criminals.

"We haven't seen anything of them, they vanished," said Maggie
Schofield, executive director of the Calgary Downtown
Association.

Dermot Baldwin, executive director of the Calgary Drop-In Centre, has
also seen "absolutely nothing" of the group.

And Staff Sgt. Paul Stacey, of the Calgary Police Service's community
and youth services, agrees.

"It's like they don't exist," he said.

"They don't seem to have had any impact from our perspective and our
police officers have had very little to do with them."

But Guardian Angels member Steven Saretsky thinks it's "bizarre the
police would say such a thing," and says the Angels have been
patrolling the downtown and East Village at least once a week.

"What we're doing is a visible deterrent to crime," said Saretsky,
though he admits there have been very few situations they have
responded to.

The Guardian Angels walk the streets in groups, usually in a large
pack of six people or more. They are unarmed, but will make citizen's
arrests for violent crimes.

However, their Calgary strategy has been less about confrontation
after founder Curtis Sliwa promised not to bring his "American
tactics" to the city.

The Guardian Angels have chapters throughout North America, beginning
in the late 1970s when Sliwa vowed to help clean up crime in his New
York neighbourhood.

Since then, a number of chapters have sprung up across Canada, and
while they draw a lot of attention when they first arrive, some
critics say they quickly become invisible to the people they promise
to assist.

Jeff Carr, media relations officer with the Halifax Regional Police
said the Angels have been spotted "once in awhile" since their fall
2007 arrival, but is not aware of any situations where they've
detained anyone or assisted the police.

Similarly, in Edmonton the Guardian Angels "have been around for quite
some time, but contact between them and the police has been minimal,"
said Jeff Wuite, spokesman for the Edmonton Police Service.

"Not one highlight involving them has ever come across my
desk."

In Calgary, Saretsky said he is concerned about the recent rash of
violent crime in the city, but argues there is only so much they can
do as a volunteer organization.

"If we had more members we could patrol more, but it's difficult to
attract and keep members," he said, adding the group now has 12 active
members, up from the original eight.

Still, he said the community has responded positively to their
presence and they are well-received by patrolling police officers.

"We err on the side of caution because we don't want to be a nuisance
to police," he said, adding that they will not involve police in their
operations unless it is worthwhile.

But Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart said she "doesn't buy the fact that
they work quietly behind the scenes because no one has seen them."

She was enthusiastic about the Angels' presence when they first came
to the city, and understands they face difficulty with recruitment and
training, but said she believes "it's really important that they live
up to their promises and don't say one thing but do another."

Baldwin questions if Calgary even has a place for a group like the
Guardian Angels.

"We're not American in that sense where people can bear arms and take
things into their own hands - there may be a place for that in New
York City but not here," he said.