The Guardian Angels are back in the news. The group of concerned citizen activists/vigilantes (you choose) have been bringing their bold sense of paramilitary style numbers to the South Side, patrolling the Garfield CTA route from the Halsted Green Line "L" station to King Drive in response to a rash of purse snatchings along that part of the route. more ›

According to a report in today's Sun-Times, crime on the CTA is on the rise. From 2006 to 2009, overall crime increased by 26 percent; the most significant spike seems to be in robberies which increased by 77 percent in that time. And the increase in overall crime from last year to this year is on pace to come in at around 12 percent. Downtown and the North Side are the most popular hot spots for these transit thieves. more ›

You might remember a post from March about some Guardian Angels taking on an alleged graffiti artist at a CTA train stop. Now comes this video (via The Windy Citizen) of the Chicago chapter of the Guardian Angels training for hand-to-hand combat on a CTA subway platform. We're not sure if they expect to tangle with buskers or real hardened criminals, but from the looks of it, they're taking it seriously - the video's description calls it, "SUBWAY HAND TO HAND COMBAT." The YouTube user, 3RDRAIL1988, has several similar videos and even a few more altercations between the Angels and disturbers of the peace. more ›

The indispensable blog CTA Tattler brings us a very interesting story about the Guardian Angels and CTA graffiti artists. In particular is a recent incident in which some GA's caught a tagger at the Western/Milwaukee Blue Line stop but the Tattler suggest their "detainment seems to cross the line to assault" territory. (Note - according to the Tattler, the Guardian Angels choose to videotape such detainments to help prevent lawsuits.) more ›

I have to be at work at 4am, and early commuters get to see a whole different, much emptier side of the city that most (sober) people rarely experience. Most of the time, it's quiet, save for the few occasional drunks. At most, the worst part about the commute is the smell that permeates the two-car Red Line train at 3:25 in the morning. But sometimes things do get scary—and dangerous. If they're around, this is where members of the Guardian Angels step in. more ›