January 2023
Re: “Spread their wings again”(Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun, 28 January): Seeing as the current solutions to violence in the city, not just on the TTC, aren’t adequate, what do we have to lose by bringing in the Guardian Angels. Their past success in New York and other cities demonstrate that they are not a “vigilante group” and that their efforts bring about positive outcomes.
Three time in the past, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Silwa tried to bring the Angels to Toronto, in 1983, 1992 and in 2006, without success.
Look, Curtis Silwa isn’t stupid. He knows what weak-kneed politicians and the usual whiners think of his organization, and he has done his best to prove them wrong. He knows that any vigilante acts by his Angels will feed into those falsehoods, so he does his best to make sure his members are properly trained and that the thugs get weeded out.
As a retired police officer, I would welcome the Guardian Angels to Toronto. If any of them step over the line, I say change them, just like you would any citizen or police officer who breaks the law, but if they perform as well as they have in other cities, give them the praise they deserve.
Maybe someday, the Canadian chattering-classes will be lining up to have their picture taken with the Guardian Angels.
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