Guardian Angels will be handing out safety tips for the Holidays on Black Friday November 25, 2011. We will also be doing escorts from stores to cars and public transportation. We will be looking for snatch and grabs, pickpockets, car break ins, and crimes of opportunity. If we witness a crime in progress we will make a citizens arrest. Our goal is for the general public to not become a victim this Holiday Season. The Guardian Angels will start handing out safety tips at the Columbia Heights metro station (5am-10am) at the corner of (14th and Irving street, NW) After 10 we will patrol metro trains and hand out safety tips at other metro stations. Criminals beware, we know who's been naughty this year.

No word on whether Postie Dan Zak will compose a poem to mark the occasion.

Photo by Mr. T in DC via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution Generic 2.0 License

Summer moon.

Pencil, tapping.

Cable news talking heads flash silently across the room.

Blah blah blah... debt ceiling... blah Obama

Coffee once steaming, now cold.

Cursor, flashing.

Flashing.

How to make this story interesting?

Interviews?

No.

Researching the effectiveness of citizen patrollers?

No, not that.

Never that.

Just describe the night.

Whatever words come to mind.

Iniquity. Molten. Calisthenics.

This is where the writer types.

There is time yet for a hundred visions and revisions—oh wait.

[Bleep.]

Stream of consciousness.

The silent click of the keyboard.

Shift.

Just write.

They’ll love it.

The moon is rolling its eyes.

© 2011 Michael W. Hicks

The citizen crime fighters are revving up to, among other things, continue patrolling Metro this summer.

As founding member John Ayala points out in an email, riders could certainly use the safeguarding:

"In the month of May, there was a 17 yr old shot on a metro bus, a grandmother ass[a]ulted on a metro bus, a 15 yr old girl sexually ass[a]ulted outside a metro station, a 21 yr old man was fatally stabbed at a metro station and there have been several fights on Metro buses and trains and the summer has not begun."

Ayala says this summer the Angels will be keeping an eye on on both trains and buses, and also conducting "foot patrols in Chinatown, Anacostia and other places thoughout the city."

If you're not familiar with the do-gooder group, it consists of trained volunteers, armed with nothing but radios, who help out cops when they need it, break up fights, and generally protect those who need protecting. All while wearing a red beret.

Unfortunately for Ayala and crew, they'll likely be doing so completely broke. That's no exaggeration. Ayala tells City Desk: "Our account in DC is actually zero."

Ayala founded the local Guardian Angel chapter 21 years ago, when drugs and violence plagued D.C. streets with an intensity that makes many who experienced that time shudder.

One reason the organization is broke, he says, is that in the two decades they've been fighting for DC, the city hasn't given the group a single dime.

Ayala says he's tried to get money from the District in the past but was discouraged by all the "red tape" he has to go through.

That the city has never chipped in to help the Guardian Angels would seem amazing, as the bereted criminal stoppers have rarely shied away from putting themselves on the line for their city. Ayala has a wound to prove it.

Back in the 90s, when the Angels were running an operation they called "Crack Down on Crack," Ayala took an ice pick to the back.
"We got into a big throwdown," he recalls of the incident in Southwest D.C. Around the same time, he says, another Angel was clobbered with a baseball bat, and had to have a steel rod put in his arm.

Still, none of the blood spilled by Angels has earned them any cash.
Ayala says it's been hard to get by. The Angels can't afford an office right now, and have a hard time paying for uniforms. New recruits need to be outfitted with pants, t-shirts, and boots, plus a jacket with the angel logo on it.

The cost can run more than a $100 per recruit. Ayala once hoped to cover the expense through citizen donations, but that hope has fallen flat.

The last public donation the group got was for $200, he says, and that was a year ago. That means the expense of getting a uniform and paying bus and train fares comes out of the pocket of the individual crime fighter. "Sometimes it discourages the guys who go on partol," says Ayala.

Despite the shallow pockets, Ayala sometimes thinks the lack of public funding is a blessing, considering how other nonprofits have gotten millions from the city, and squandered it. "The guys are messing it up for other nonprofits," says Ayala.

It's obvious that Ayala is talking about the Peaceaholics organization, an anti-violence group made up of reformed criminals. The organization–which works with at-risk youth–has enjoyed municipal support in the form of multiple grants.

Ayala says the Angels have run similar programs for youth without getting much support for it. He says the Angels have done school presentations that teach youth about issues like bullying and date rape.
Ayala scoffs at the idea that the ex-offenders have supposedly been given so much help because, regarding violence, "they've been there."

"Well, we're Angels," he says, "We've been there, too."

Campus Safety: Two students reported sexual assaults last week. One occurred in a Georgetown University dorm on April 9. Campus police issued an alert detailing what happened:

“The complainant had left her room and was walking downstairs toward the basement. As the complainant was heading downstairs, an unknown male followed her and said to her 'Hey girl.'

The suspect then grabbed her from behind, pushed her against the wall, put one hand over her mouth and the other up her shirt. The complainant pushed the suspect and ran out the back door toward the Davis Performing Arts Center. The suspect left in an unknown direction.”

The other alleged assault occured near George Washington University. The G.W. Hatchet says that campus police informed students that on April 10, around 4 a.m. "near the Foggy Bottom Metro, a female student reported that she gave a male subject directions, and he followed her to Washington Circle, pulled her into the park and tried to kiss her. When she refused, he became angry with her and forced her to touch his genitals. He fled the area in a yellow cab.”

Crime Fighters: Citizen crime fighting group the Guardian Angels have been stepping up patrols in Washington Highlands, where nine people were gunned down last month. A patrol log entered by Guardian Angel Ed Cotter tells how things went down in that area on April 10.

"0100 hours, the Guardian Angels arrived in Anacostia. It was me, Shaggy, Lawman, Bulldog, Skyler, and a few new members. Bulldog had to go home. For about 20 minutes we waited for the bus."

The bus finally arrived, and the crew hopped off at Martin Luther King Street to begin their patrol. After pleasantly talking with some community members and untangling a swing set, they passed the spot where four were slain and five wounded. "Teddy Bears are up in memory," writes Cotter.

Cotter says everything went well for the patrol, at least, until it was time to go: "While waiting for the bus, one car of youth apparently drove past and flipped the middle finger at us."

I Got Drunk and Stole What?: Arlington police officers say that on April 10, at approximately 3:20 a.m., David Catalano, 25, of Fairfax, was seen stealing a Dominion utility truck. Dominion, an energy company, supplies electricity to Virginia residents. An apparently inebriated Catalano crashed the vehicle and fled. Cops caught up with Catalano and arrested him.  He's been charged with driving while intoxicated, grand larceny of an automobile, and hit and run.

Source: MPD District listservs and public releases, Montgomery County Police Department public releases, Arlington Police Department public releases

Bus-ted: Last week, in two unrelated cases, two Metro bus drivers found themselves in trouble with police. On April 2, driver Dwayne Adamson allegedly flashed a knife after getting into a traffic dispute with a motorist. He was arrested.

And on March 4, while operating the D12 bus, driver Shawn Todd allegedly stopped to solicit a prostitute. Todd waved over someone he believed to be a sex worker and offered her money for sexual favors, it's alleged. But what appeared to be a prostitute was really an undercover police officer, and he was arrested.

Hey You, Why Are You Jingling?: In Bethesda and Silver Spring, Montgomery County cops say, 69 parking meters have been plundered. The thefts took place between March 28 and April 1. Police say thieves are using a heavy object to smash the outer casing of the meters and get at the coins. Police are asking citizens to look out for suspicious activity near parking meters and anyone "with unexplained large amounts of coins."

Mugging Marathon: On April 1, multiple masked men went on a robbing spree in parts of D.C.'s 3rd and 4th police districts. Police say the muggers committed nine robberies within several hours. According to WTOP, some of their victims were Howard University students, and the muggers pounced on the unsuspecting students while they were inside Howard's engineering building.

Cops say the suspects used "a variety of weapons" to carry out the robberies and that some of the victims were beaten—while others were threatened with being shot. Assistant Police Chief Diane Groomes says that during one robbery the suspects were armed with a crowbar.

Red Berets: Due to so some violent happenings in the Gallery Place area, D.C. Guardian Angel John Ayala says his crime-stopping group is patrolling there. "There have been a lot of fights in china town/Gallery Place and on the train Saturday nights," Ayala writes in an email. "So now we are meeting every Saturday at 7th and H street, NW to patrol China town and Metro."

On one such patrol on March 31, riding the Metro from "Gallery Place Green line to L’Enfant Plaza to Congress Height back to Gallery Place," the Guardian Angels assisted a young woman in distress, but missed out on getting the bad guy. The DC Guardian Angels Web site says: "At the L’Enfant Plaza train station platform a young female gets the attention of the Guardian Angels and informs us that she was hit by a man while riding on the metro and quickly ran out of the train. We searched the area with assistance from the victim but were unable to find him."

Source: MPD District listservs and public releases, Montgomery County Police Department public releases

From the MPD-4D listserv:

The Guardian Angels are still in need of residents to come out and walk the surrounding area of the the 600 block of Longfellow and Kennedy street, NW. We will have the police walk with us. the walks can be in the evening or on Saturday from 12 to 1:30. I understand some resident do not want to walk because they do not feel comfortable. But there is safety in numbers. We cannot let the thugs control our community. Please send me an email if you are ready to show the community you have had enough and you are not going to sit back and let them control.

It is important that we stake our claim to increased public safety when there are no shootings or other glaring criminal mishaps in our midst.

Criminals do not want to set up shop and operate where citizens are active and vigilant. Community walks are an excellent way to connect with neighbors and get some exercise while protecting our neighborhoods. "When Citizens Have a Stronghold Criminals Cannot Get a Foothold."

Various responses to the post have been positive, and as someone who lives a just a few blocks away from that intersection, I can attest that casual strolls by the Guardian Angels certainly wouldn't hurt (try as I might, I can't help but envision Jack Spade from I'm Gonna Get You Sucka.) On the other hand, drug law reform is something that would actually help lower crime, so that we don't have a bunch of teenagers killing each other over sales turf, but it's going take more than a few (thousand) dead poor folk for that to happen.

According to Prince of Petworth, the Guardian Angels are also looking to step it up in Columbia Heights:

Guardian Angels Neighborhood Patrol in Columbia Heights

When: Tuesday, November 11th, 7-9 PM

Where: Let’s meet at 14th & Otis, in front of the Black Lion Market

Areas to be patrolled include 14th Street , 16th Street , Center Street , Hertford Place , Meridian Place, Oak Street , Ogden Street, Otis Place , Parkwood Place , Perry Place , Spring Place, and Spring Road.

We will be accompanied by members of the Guardian Angels. Please wear comfortable shoes and bring a flashlight.

Invited guests include Councilman Graham and Inspector Delgado.

If you have any questions, please contact Donna at dpchele@yahoo.com.

City Paper wrote a fascinating and informative story on the Guardian Angels here.

What say you, readers: Is this something that can bring down crime?