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Guardian Angels Conduct Night Patrol in Springfield

Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa recently paid a visit to Springfield, MA, along with members of the Boston Chapter of the patrol & safety organization. This was one of several planned follow-up meetings to help organize volunteer efforts and coordinate the training of new, local members. The Guardian Angels had previously visited Springfield this past July. The following is a report by Springfield City Council candidate John Lysak, as the Boston contingent and Springfield volunteers, along with Lysak, patrolled the streets of downtown Springfield that evening.

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Friday, September 21, 2007

“After a visit from Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, four members of the Boston Chapter of the Guardian Angels, three members of the Springfield Chapter of the Guardian Angels, and I went on a patrol of the downtown Springfield area.

“We parked near State Street and Main Street at 9:00 PM, and began our patrol at the Entertainment District. We walked up through Worthington Street and Pearl Street, then went to Chestnut Street. While on Chestnut Street, one of the Springfield members, Rob, spotted a couple engaging in lewd and lascivious acts across from 49 Chestnut Street, near the museums. The Springfield Police were called at 9:58 PM, and three police officers and one state trooper responded. In a professional manner, all of the officers did their job and handled the situation.

While on Chestnut Street, and we encountered a professed member of the Latin Kings. He spoke with us for about 15 minutes, talking about how the fighting between the gangs needed to end. After exchanging information with him, we dropped off 2 members of the Springfield Chapter.

The remaining members of our group then headed on Main Street towards the South End, speaking to people at various locations. From there, we went down Loring Street to East Columbus Avenue, then back to Main Street via Gardner Street. We crossed Main Street and went up Marble Street, and proceeded down Dwight Street Ext, where we spoke with different groups of people between the extension and Oswego Street. We then took Adams Street to Richelieu Street.

At 11:40 PM, at the corner of Adams Street and Richelieu Street, I spotted a large fire on the corner of Oswego and Richelieu Streets. It was a dumpster fire, and the police were called at 11:44 PM. The call was responded to by the Fire and Police Departments, and by someone from the Arson Squad. Unfortunately, no witnesses came forward at that time.

Afterwards, we went back up Adams Street to Ashmun Street, where we noticed a car that had recently been broken into. The window was smashed in, and the radio was stolen. We notified the police immediately, at 12:01 AM.

We then went up Central Street, and continued talking to different groups of people that we met along the way. We made a left onto Maple Street, and noticed that one of the abandoned brownstones looked as if it had been broken into. While looking through the windows, we noticed some candles and mattresses on the floor, which indicated that people were squatting there. We alerted police to the address at 12:11 AM, both to report the break-in and the potential fire hazard.

All in all, it was a productive night. We were well received by the law enforcement officers, residents, and visitors to the areas that we patrolled.”

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Posted by Bill Dusty on Sep 27th, 2007 and filed under Cities & Towns, Feature Stories, Society, Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.