GUARDIAN ANGELS COMING

Anti-Crime Crusaders Checking Community Support Level In
Winnipeg

WITH only red berets and a desire to fight street crime, the Guardian
Angels will be in Winnipeg in four weeks to see whether there is
enough support to set up a new chapter in the Peg.

National director Lou Hoffer said yesterday the Guardian Angels will
visit Winnipeg during the first week in September. The city is one of
several stops included in the organization's cross-country tour this
September.

The anti-crime patrol group operates in more than 60 communities
worldwide, and Hoffer said the tour is a way for the organization to
gauge interest and need to set up other chapters across Canada.

Since Guardian Angels began in New York 27 years ago, the volunteer
patrols have provided conflict resolution, first-aid, and help with
social issues like homelessness.

In Canada, chapters are being organized in Toronto, Vancouver,
Edmonton and Calgary.

"I think there's a need for a Guardian Angels' chapter in every city
in Canada," Hoffer said. Hoffer said The Angels will have an open
discussion with Winnipeg police along with touring the city and
speaking with concerned citizens. He said this will give them an idea
if there is a citizen volunteer base to support the organization in
Winnipeg, as well as a clearer picture of where patrols might be needed.

Hoffer said he's already received about two dozen e-mails from
Winnipeggers agitated by local crime, and is optimistic The Angels
could fill a void other social agencies in the city can't provide.

If all goes well, Hoffer said Winnipeggers could see the red berets
patrolling city streets by early 2007.

"We really need at least two to three dozen citizens to be able to
perpetuate the chapter," he said.

In Calgary, a local chapter of the Guardian Angels expects to be on
the streets by November.

The interview process in Calgary is underway, but there is still
first-aid and self-defence training to be done before the six-member
patrols can begin walking the beat, said Hoffer.

When Angels founder Curtis Sliwa arrived in Calgary in May, he said he
expected to have Angels on the city's streets by August. But Hoffer
said he expects the group won't be fully functional by the end of the
fall.

"It's quite a long process to get a chapter up and running," he said,
explaining that volunteers need to have a criminal-record check and,
if accepted, go through at least three months of training.

In all, the Guardian Angels are looking for 24 volunteers who can take
to Calgary's streets in teams of six.

Sliwa said many Calgarians are supportive of the Angels' plan to
patrol areas where street crime is a problem.

But not everyone welcomes the volunteers in their red
berets.

Calgary Alderman Andre Chabot, whose area includes Forest Lawn --
which the Guardian Angels identified as a place they will patrol --
said the group sounds like vigilantes and he doesn't want them in the
city.

If people are interested in getting crime off the streets, they should
apply to the Calgary Police Service -- which is short of recruits --
rather than volunteer with a group that has neither body armour nor
weapons to protect themselves while out on patrol, Chabot said.