Guardian Ang-"El"s

By Karl Klockars in News on Sep 15, 2008 7:30PM

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.

Originally organized in NYC in 1979, members keep an eye out for trouble on trains and buses, and make citizens arrests where necessary. They train for three months, to make sure they stay within the confines of the law, and are unarmed. And in the past 18 months or so, they've started using video cameras and posting their "patrols" online.

The Bright One reports that contrary to early New York response to the Angels, Chicago police and CTA officials tend to approve of the non-profit international group. And while the Guardian Angels are not making the big busts—the S-T said they stopped a cell phone thief, a guy carrying a couple knives (which we weren't aware was actually a crime), and a few fights—there's no way of knowing how much their presence prevents people from doing things they otherwise might think they could get away with.

So is this really necessary in Chicago? Have you ever even seen a group of Guardian Angels? Even if you don't like the idea of vigilante justice whatsoever, when you're on a late-night trek across the city and there's a group of shifty-looking characters wondering if you'll put up much of a fight if they decide they want your wallet and your iPod, we're sure that red beret looks a lot less goofy. And despite the overblown tough-guy Brooklyn mook-ness of their founder Curtis Sliwa as well as the unavoidable paramilitary overtones of the Angels, it's hard to imagine that it's a bad thing for citizens to get involved in keeping their city (and its transit systems) safe.

Video from 3RDRAIL1988. Other Angel-related video is online from user Collegeiskilli