Guardian Angels Moving into Wilkes-Barre

[MermanMike]

This is interesting. I've never heard of the Guardian Angels before reading the Wiki entry. I think it's good whenever people take responsibility for their communities rather than leave it to the government. I wonder if Hat or Coartist have any opinions on this group having been in law enforcement in NYC. Are you guys listening?

[mathjak107]

living in nyc my entire life they are a household name. curtis is a very entertaining radio personality with up until recently his own show. ive seen his talks locally and he is quite an entertaining speaker

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

I think that the Guardians Angels do a great service. Unfortunately, it doesn't say anything "good" about the area that the angels must come to. I recall Haverstraw in Rockland had asked them to come and then changed their mind. I believe that if the politicans and the police force have trouble with issues, then by all means, let them come in and help. It is certainly not good for property values. The angles share the belief that citizens of all ages have a right to live without fear of physical harm, intimidation, harassment, or violence. ...

[BLUEDIAMOND64]

The Alliance of Guardian Angels If anyone is interested in reading about the organization. LOL, needed them when I got robbed on the number 4 train several years ago. Good post; MermanMike.

Tha Hat

[MermanMike]

Thanks for the link, Hat. They sound like a great group, and I am glad they will be around to help in Wilkes-Barre. Although WB may seem like a safe place to those who have experienced harsher environments, it is in really bad shape compared to what it used to be like and it is good to hear about people working to change that.

[Summering]

Originally Posted by MermanMike

This is interesting. I've never heard of the Guardian Angels before reading the Wiki entry. I think it's good whenever people take responsibility for their communities rather than leave it to the government. I wonder if Hat or Coartist have any opinions on this group having been in law enforcement in NYC. Are you guys listening?

Really MermanMike.......Curtis has been around for probably over 25 years.
He made the front page often of the NY Daily News and Post. I've liked what he stood for. He is only hoping for law, order and justice. He has put his life on the line often......and gone to gosh, awful, gang filled places.
He even showed up a year ago trying to venture into PCP.........
I am not sure the law enforcement is totally into their causes.
Like it has been through the ages, different enforcement groups dont' mix all that well......its ......"who is messing with our business" IMO
I respect them all.......anyone... for our "safety, and justice"

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Summering

Really MermanMike.......Curtis has been around for probably over 25 years.
He made the front page often of the NY Daily News and Post. I've liked what he stood for. He is only hoping for law, order and justice. He has put his life on the line often......and gone to gosh, awful, gang filled places.
He even showed up a year ago trying to venture into PCP.........
I am not sure the law enforcement is totally into their causes.
Like it has been through the ages, different enforcement groups dont' mix all that well......its ......"who is messing with our business" IMO
I respect them all.......anyone... for our "safety, and justice"

It's not that the police/municipal officials "don't like" vigilante groups like the Guardian Angels, it's that they don't appreciate civilians putting their own lives in jeopardy needlessly when they themselves have been trained and are being paid to do the same thing. As you can read in that Wiki article, four members have died since the group's inception in the 1980s. You can view those four lives lost as merely "collateral damage" in relation to the hundreds, if not thousands, of citizens' arrests that were made over that same timeframe through the efforts of this fine organization, or you can view even one life lost through vigilanteism to be one too many.

I don't think it's a case of the police unions being irked that someone is "messing with their business." If I were a police officer being overburdened with the rising violent crime rate in Wilkes-Barre (which sadly is MUCH higher than Scranton, which has 30,000 more residents), I'd welcome all the help I could possibly get. The problem occurs in that civilian vigilantes put their own lives in danger, and can potentially make a bad situation even worse.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by MermanMike

Thanks for the link, Hat. They sound like a great group, and I am glad they will be around to help in Wilkes-Barre. Although WB may seem like a safe place to those who have experienced harsher environments, it is in really bad shape compared to what it used to be like and it is good to hear about people working to change that.

Wilkes-Barre has indeed gone downhill over the years, and with project after project and business after business falling through as of late (Slainte, Hotel Sterling, Club Mardi Gras, Hallmark, Campus Square Billiards, Murray Complex, etc.) my once jubilant optimism for the city's rebirth has begun to falter.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by SWB

Today the founder of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Sliwa, was in Wilkes-Barre drumming up support for a new chapter of his crime-fighting organization here in response to the rising violent crime in the Wyoming Valley.

Here is a link to a Wikipedia article about the organization for those who are inclined to read more about them:

Guardian Angels - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wilkes-Barre needs the GREEN berets, not the red ones.