Recent Guardian Angel graffiti reading founder Curtis Sliwa's name. Only 10% of the time do they make citizen arrests.
Snitches get stitches and end up in ditches. That is unfortunately the mantra of many in the city, but for the Guardian Angels, the opposite is true. For an unarmed volunteer group that aims to provide public safety and goes where it’s called, the Angels rely on people speaking up, which is what brought them to the Belmont area of the Bronx recently.
About six months ago, Curtis Sliwa, one of the group’s founders, received emails from Fordham University students after there were a number of incidents near Fordham’s campus. Since then, members of the organization have “stepped up patrols in Belmont area.” On any given night, particularly weekend nights near Arthur Avenue, the Guardian Angels might be seen in groups of three or four patrolling the streets, wearing their signature red berets, red satin jackets, black camouflage pants and black combat boots. Their aim is to act as a crime deterrent and one of the main ways they do that is with their image.
“The fact of the matter is when people see us the will cease and desist,” said one of the founding members Arnaldo Salinas. “You’d have to be Helen Keller not to see us.”
Although the group may be known for making citizen arrests and following them through the court system, Salinas said they don’t often have to go that far, though they will intervene in a fight if they come upon one. If that happens, the first thing members are instructed to do is call 911. Then, the Guardian Angels would physically place themselves in the middle of the fight and separate people. If someone tried to leave, “we have every right in the world to detain,” Salinas said, up to handcuffing.
Although the Angels are all inclusive and accept people of all genders, races and backgrounds, there is an interview screening process to make sure the new recruit doesn’t want to join for personal vengeance reasons. Basic training is three months long and involves a variety of classes, learning to work as a team and field work.
Zeek Gavares, 38, joined the Guardian Angels last month after witnessing the group break up a fight near his home.
“They caught my attention,” he said. “I liked the way they acted.”
Although Gavares used to be a carpenter, he quit in order to become more involved in the Angels, saying he now has “more time on my hands to lend.” On a recent afternoon, Gavares was campaigning with Salinas and other recruits, but he wasn’t sure what exactly they were campaigning about. When asked about Salinas, he seemed to only know him by his nickname, Thirteen.
The nickname refers to the original 13 members of the organization when they came together in 1979 in a McDonalds on Fordham Road. Around that time, then-mayor Ed Koch decreased the number of transit police, and because Sliwa, Salinas and their fellow employees took the 4 train to work, they decided to pick up the slack. They started patrolling the subways, riding in adjacent cars. Eventually, in order to communicate more efficiently, they began to don red berets they would wave when they popped their heads out of the doors at stops to see one another.
The group functions pretty independently and they have no preconceptions that they are on par with the police department, but are trained citizens. However, Salinas did say that prominent politicians as well as residents have been known to call the Angels to ask for additional help in their neighborhoods and that many Guardian Angels go on to the police department or military. He also mentioned that in New York City, the group sometimes works with local precincts. These claims could not be verified.
One officer reached through the police press office who would not give his name, said he was indifferent to the group.
“We don’t deal with them. They do their own thing. What do they really do? I don’t know,” he said, adding that he doesn’t know of any officers who were once involved in the Angels. Another officer reached through the same line directed the call to John Kelly, who did not respond to multiple emails for comment.
Whether or not the Angels work with the police or politicians, there is not doubt that their two hundred or so members in New York City are active, patrolling drug areas and going where they are called.
“We’re not vigilantes,” Salinas said, “because we’re not judge jury and executioners.”
Snitches get stitches and end up in ditches. That is unfortunately the mantra of many in the city, but for the Guardian Angels, the opposite is true. For an unarmed volunteer group that aims to provide public safety and goes where it’s called, the Angels rely on people speaking up, which is what brought them to the Belmont area of the Bronx recently.
About six months ago, Curtis Sliwa, one of the group’s founders, received emails from Fordham University students after there were a number of incidents near Fordham’s campus. Since then, members of the organization have “stepped up patrols in Belmont area.” On any given night, particularly weekend nights near Arthur Avenue, the Guardian Angels might be seen in groups of three or four patrolling the streets, wearing their signature red berets, red satin jackets, black camouflage pants and black combat boots. Their aim is to act as a crime deterrent and one of the main ways they do that is with their image.
“The fact of the matter is when people see us the will cease and desist,” said one of the founding members Arnaldo Salinas. “You’d have to be Helen Keller not to see us.”
Although the group may be known for making citizen arrests and following them through the court system, Salinas said they don’t often have to go that far, though they will intervene in a fight if they come upon one. If that happens, the first thing members are instructed to do is call 911. Then, the Guardian Angels would physically place themselves in the middle of the fight and separate people. If someone tried to leave, “we have every right in the world to detain,” Salinas said, up to handcuffing.
Although the Angels are all inclusive and accept people of all genders, races and backgrounds, there is an interview screening process to make sure the new recruit doesn’t want to join for personal vengeance reasons. Basic training is three months long and involves a variety of classes, learning to work as a team and field work.
Zeek Gavares, 38, joined the Guardian Angels last month after witnessing the group break up a fight near his home.
“They caught my attention,” he said. “I liked the way they acted.”
Although Gavares used to be a carpenter, he quit in order to become more involved in the Angels, saying he now has “more time on my hands to lend.” On a recent afternoon, Gavares was campaigning with Salinas and other recruits, but he wasn’t sure what exactly they were campaigning about. When asked about Salinas, he seemed to only know him by his nickname, Thirteen.
The nickname refers to the original 13 members of the organization when they came together in 1979 in a McDonalds on Fordham Road. Around that time, then-mayor Ed Koch decreased the number of transit police, and because Sliwa, Salinas and their fellow employees took the 4 train to work, they decided to pick up the slack. They started patrolling the subways, riding in adjacent cars. Eventually, in order to communicate more efficiently, they began to don red berets they would wave when they popped their heads out of the doors at stops to see one another.
The group functions pretty independently and they have no preconceptions that they are on par with the police department, but are trained citizens. However, Salinas did say that prominent politicians as well as residents have been known to call the Angels to ask for additional help in their neighborhoods and that many Guardian Angels go on to the police department or military. He also mentioned that in New York City, the group sometimes works with local precincts. These claims could not be verified.
One officer reached through the police press office who would not give his name, said he was indifferent to the group.
“We don’t deal with them. They do their own thing. What do they really do? I don’t know,” he said, adding that he doesn’t know of any officers who were once involved in the Angels. Another officer reached through the same line directed the call to John Kelly, who did not respond to multiple emails for comment.
Whether or not the Angels work with the police or politicians, there is not doubt that their two hundred or so members in New York City are active, patrolling drug areas and going where they are called.
“We’re not vigilantes,” Salinas said, “because we’re not judge jury and executioners.”
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