Jerry’s angels on the Hill
Mayor Jerry Jennings of Albany, NY, had good news this past week for
residents of troubled neighborhoods, such as the crime-ridden Arbor Hill.
As the Times-Union reported:
“On Tuesday, city leaders stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the
Guardian Angels, welcoming their volunteer patrols to some of
the toughest neighborhoods, and Gov. George Pataki announced
that uniformed troopers will be riding shotgun in patrol cars.”
Albany gets both state-paid Troopers and help from The Guardian Angels,
whose well-trained Safety Patrols have helped tame the streets of New York
City since 1979, and which now has chapters in about 60 cities. Indeed,
Guardian Angels started patrolling Schenectady’s Hamilton Hill section earlier
this year, and have the blessing of local police, the mayor, community groups
and residents.
Sounds great. Everybody’s happy but the criminals, right? Wrong. The
Albany Police Union is quite upset and held a press conference of its own
on Thursday. (CapitalLand News 9, Guardian Angel controversy, June 2,
2005) Union President Christopher Mesley said:
“We don’t want our officers babysitting them or putting themselves
in a circumstance where they have to get to them in an instance where
they’re requiring assistance and an officer might place themselves in
danger racing across the city or place the citizens in danger.”
The Union’s solution is to hire more Albany police. Jerry Jennings responded:
”They’re living in the dark ages when it comes to policing. As far as
I’m concerned, I’ll take any proven available resources to help stabilize
and protect the public safety people in this city, whether they like it or not.”
According to the Times Union, (”Officers’ union at odds with Jennings on patrols,”
June 3, 2005), Mesley also explained that “We appreciate the extra eyes and
ears, but there’s got to be some interaction. It’s going to be my guys racing to
backup a Guardian Angel who’s got some guy in custody.”
As with most things local, the situation is complicated. The Union says they have
not been included in any discussion about how the Guardian Angels will operate
and cooperate with the police. If Jennings was too busy rushing to announce the
good news (in an election year) to coordinate with the Angels and the Union, that
needs to be corrected, now. The Union’s position is a bit suspect, however, since
it also complained about having State Troopers ride along in cars that otherwise
have only one officer. The Union says the Troopers don’t know the City or how
to deal with urban problems.
Curtis Sliwa, whose almost as famous for his red beret as Farrah Farrah
is for her red swimsuit, says he’s willing to come to Albany himself to work things
out with the Union. I hope he does, and that the Union and APD leaders work to
develop a home-grown, well-trained Albany Chapter of the Guardian Angels.
Jerry’s Angels aren’t as foxy as Harry’s Angels (a/k/a Charlie’s Angels), and they’re
not as cuddly as Jerry’s Kids. But there is no doubt that residents of neighborhoods
like Albany’s Arbor Hill feel far more secure with Guardian Angels patrolling their
streets than without them. The Union and the Mayor owe it to the citizens to make
the relationship work.
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