We went to Oakland this past Saturday in the aftermath of the BART shooting and the riot last week. We had 15 Guardian Angels from San Francisco, Oakland, and Solano County.
We started our patrol in downtown Oakland on Broadway. Seeing the debris and destruction left from the riot was intense. There were burned trash cans, burned newsstands and boarded up shop windows that had been broken. Soon into the patrol a fight started between two women and as we approached the scene the police arrived and handcuffed the women and took them to jail.
When we reached the BART station at Fruitvale a confrontation started between a young woman and an older man. The woman said the man had slapped her and the man said he did so because she was trying to get inside the bag he was carrying. The train arrived and we all got on, including the woman and the man. We asked the woman if she wanted to press charges and she said yes so we contacted the train operator. At the next stop the BART police took the man out of the train while other officers spoke to the woman in the train. The woman didn't want to press charges now, so the BART police took down information from the man and let him go.
After that, we headed to International Blvd but everything was OK. After that we came back to San Francisco after having a good and safe patrol.
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
January 3rd, 2009 patrol in the Tenderloin
We had Guardian Angels from Oakland and Solano join us this weekend to patrol in San Francisco. With 15 Guardian Angels, we set out to patrol the Tenderloin in two separate patrols covering each other. We patrolled all over the Tenderloin including down: Ellis, McAllister, Turk, and O’Farrell.
Tenderloin residents greeted us and were glad to see us back again. The patrol was low-key but productive as we met with local concerned residents to listen to them explain how the neighborhood was getting out of control. It was very good to have the backing of the community. The patrol ended safely, we did our best, and We Dare To Care.
The San Francisco chapter would like to thank the Oakland and Solano chapters, and their leaders, Christina in Oakland and Omar in Solano, for their help.
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Tenderloin residents greeted us and were glad to see us back again. The patrol was low-key but productive as we met with local concerned residents to listen to them explain how the neighborhood was getting out of control. It was very good to have the backing of the community. The patrol ended safely, we did our best, and We Dare To Care.
The San Francisco chapter would like to thank the Oakland and Solano chapters, and their leaders, Christina in Oakland and Omar in Solano, for their help.
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Saturday, December 20, 2008
Rally for peace in Vallejo
A Peace Rally will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m., beginning at City Park and finishing at Georgia Street. The Guardian Angels will be there with chapters from San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond. There will be plenty of people covering this sad event.
Rally for peace
Article Launched: 12/18/2008 07:56:20 AM PST
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_11260685
A Peace Rally will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m., beginning at City Park and finishing at Georgia Street. The Guardian Angels will be there with chapters from San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond. There will be plenty of people covering this sad event.
I am letting you know about the Peace Rally because a man was murdered on the same night that we held our meeting at the Empress on Dec. 2. While we were speaking about making Vallejo a nicer place to live, one man was murdered on the corner of Georgia and Marin streets, locking up from work and preparing to go home. This is a very cowardly act upon another person who is trying to make something of himself and his home. Vallejoans want to see these acts of violence stop in this beautiful town.
So please if you can, be there to support this rally and show everyone that this will no longer be tolerated in our neighborhood or in Vallejo. It's time that we all stand up and take this city back from the thugs that threaten our children and their futures here.
Join me and many others who want to see a positive change and stop the ripple effect of violence that effects all of us here in Vallejo.
Marian Swanson
Vallejo
Read the rest
Rally for peace
Article Launched: 12/18/2008 07:56:20 AM PST
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_11260685
A Peace Rally will be held on Saturday at 10 a.m., beginning at City Park and finishing at Georgia Street. The Guardian Angels will be there with chapters from San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond. There will be plenty of people covering this sad event.
I am letting you know about the Peace Rally because a man was murdered on the same night that we held our meeting at the Empress on Dec. 2. While we were speaking about making Vallejo a nicer place to live, one man was murdered on the corner of Georgia and Marin streets, locking up from work and preparing to go home. This is a very cowardly act upon another person who is trying to make something of himself and his home. Vallejoans want to see these acts of violence stop in this beautiful town.
So please if you can, be there to support this rally and show everyone that this will no longer be tolerated in our neighborhood or in Vallejo. It's time that we all stand up and take this city back from the thugs that threaten our children and their futures here.
Join me and many others who want to see a positive change and stop the ripple effect of violence that effects all of us here in Vallejo.
Marian Swanson
Vallejo
Read the rest
Monday, December 1, 2008
Blog going on hiatus
The San Francisco Guardian Angels blog is taking a break Check back later after for more updates
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Sunday, November 16, 2008
11/15/08 Quinceañera
The SF Guardian Angels provided security for a Quinceaños celebration yesterday.
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Saturday, October 18, 2008
Patrol in the Mission, 10/18/08
The weather was nice today and the Mission was packed with people because of the Red Bull Soapbox Race, but everything went OK.
We started our usual patrol by clearing Hunter's alley and securing several used needles. We collected 15 used needles today.
After that, we cleared Kid Power Park and headed to Dolores Park to briefly check out the scene of the soapbox race before moving on down Mission.
(Kid Power Park)
(Mission Dolores Park)
We walked down Mission and then up to Alioto Park where we came across several people drinking and sleeping in the park. We either woke them up or made them take their drinking elsewhere so families could enjoy the park, and then we headed back down Mission to the 25th St. BART station.
We posted up for a while at the station as there were several individuals who appeared to be under the influence and were arguing, but they eventually calmed down and left. We cleared Travis Alley before heading back up Mission to check on Alioto Park and Hunter's Alley again.
(Travis Alley)
When we came back through Hunter's Alley, we came across some tourists from Fremont who thought the alley was a good place to get out of the sun, but we advised them of the nature of this particular alley, and they decided it was a good idea to find somewhere else to hang out.
After riding the bus back and getting ready to call it a day, a woman came up to us on Market St. as someone had just stolen her purse and took off running. Her cell phone and wallet were in the purse, but someone a block away had come across the cell phone. We helped her locate it, but her wallet was long gone. Unfortunately, we were about a minute too late to have possibly prevented the crime.
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We started our usual patrol by clearing Hunter's alley and securing several used needles. We collected 15 used needles today.
After that, we cleared Kid Power Park and headed to Dolores Park to briefly check out the scene of the soapbox race before moving on down Mission.
(Kid Power Park)
(Mission Dolores Park)
We walked down Mission and then up to Alioto Park where we came across several people drinking and sleeping in the park. We either woke them up or made them take their drinking elsewhere so families could enjoy the park, and then we headed back down Mission to the 25th St. BART station.
We posted up for a while at the station as there were several individuals who appeared to be under the influence and were arguing, but they eventually calmed down and left. We cleared Travis Alley before heading back up Mission to check on Alioto Park and Hunter's Alley again.
(Travis Alley)
When we came back through Hunter's Alley, we came across some tourists from Fremont who thought the alley was a good place to get out of the sun, but we advised them of the nature of this particular alley, and they decided it was a good idea to find somewhere else to hang out.
After riding the bus back and getting ready to call it a day, a woman came up to us on Market St. as someone had just stolen her purse and took off running. Her cell phone and wallet were in the purse, but someone a block away had come across the cell phone. We helped her locate it, but her wallet was long gone. Unfortunately, we were about a minute too late to have possibly prevented the crime.
Read the rest
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Attacks by Teen Groups Rising in D.C. and Nation
While this article is mostly about NW Washington, DC, San Francisco neighborhoods have also been dealing with an increase in robberies and muggings.
Attacks by Teen Groups Rising in D.C. and Nation
By Theola Labbé-DeBose
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 13, 2008; B01
D.C. police say they are seeing a growing number of teenagers and young adults traveling in groups to assault and rob unsuspecting citizens, a trend that mirrors crimes in cities across the country.
In an eight-hour period last week, five people were attacked by juveniles in separate incidents, including an armed carjacking, in the Southwest waterfront neighborhood. And in the past month, there have been between seven and 11 "pack robberies" in or near Adams Morgan in Northwest Washington, Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said.
Similar attacks have occurred in the Brookland area of Northeast and Chinatown. Police said the crimes are not necessarily related but are part of an increase that has led to heightened enforcement.
"They're looking for someone who has a cellphone or someone using an iPod. Or they're just looking for some fast cash or a credit card," Lanier said Friday at a news conference in Adams Morgan, where she announced that there will be more patrols there. "You'll have a lone person walking, and there are five young males or more, and it's ridiculous. There's no need to beat people in those circumstances, but that's what they do. Just senseless."
The attacks in Southwest unfolded between 5 p.m. Monday and 1 a.m. Tuesday. The trouble began when five teenagers on bicycles attacked a man from behind, pushed him to the ground, hit him in the face and stomach, and fled. Police said they think that the attackers were between 16 and 18 years old.
A 52-year-old lawyer suffered serious head trauma after four to six teenagers beat him in the 1000 block of Sixth Street SW about 9 p.m. Monday. Later Monday, also in Southwest, two teenagers stuck a gun in a man's face, slapped him and demanded his belongings, police said. After the victim said he didn't have anything, the teenagers fled, police said.
In another incident, a man was hit in the head from behind with a brick. And three youths confronted a Southwest resident early Tuesday in the 200 block of I Street SW, surprising him after he parked his car at an apartment building. After forcing a gun to his head, the youths stole $20 and his car and led a U.S. Capitol Police official on a chase until they crashed the car, authorities said. Canine units eventually forced Raymond Sturgis, 17, of the 200 block of K Street SW out of hiding, and he has been charged as an adult.
Irv Gamza, 83, who has lived in Southwest for more than four decades, said crimes committed by teenagers have become more serious in the past several years. "First they just annoy or harass people. Then they start getting physical. And then they rob," Gamza said.
Gamza, who is a member of the police Citizens' Advisory Council, said that if anyone in the neighborhood claims not to be afraid of groups of roaming juveniles, they "are just lying to themselves."
"You have some juveniles who are not bothering anyone. And you have some where you don't know under what condition you're going to have a problem," he said.
At a national violent-crime summit last week, sponsored by the nonprofit Police Executive Research Forum, police chiefs exchanged stories about the spate of robberies and juvenile crimes, Executive Director Chuck Wexler said.
In recent years, police in the District and other cities have dealt with spikes in robberies. Although the numbers posted by cities across the country decreased in the past two years, they remain higher than in 2004, Wexler said. In the District this year, there were 3,180 robberies as of Sept. 30, roughly the same as last year. The numbers for the month of September were up, however -- 413 compared with 388 last year -- based on preliminary statistics on the police Web site.
"Robbery is the number one crime accelerating across the country in large, medium and small areas," Wexler said.
The Police Executive Research Forum, which tracks statistics in 56 cities, has pinpointed an "explosive increase" of juveniles participating in robberies, Wexler said. In Minneapolis, police and government officials created a juvenile unit just to deal with the rising crime in that area, he said.
Lanier, who attended the crime summit, was struck by the parallels between the recent attacks in the District and those in other cities.
"I talked to a lot of chiefs at a conference the other day -- there were 180 chiefs and sheriffs from around the country -- and every one was saying the same thing: that this has become a real crime trend," Lanier said.
Bryan Weaver, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Adams Morgan, said he is concerned that more robberies are occurring on neighborhood streets away from the main commercial strip along 18th Street NW.
"Right now, the major concern of residents is that people are putting guns to their faces when they're coming home from work or dinner," he said.
Staff writers Paul Duggan and Martin Weil contributed to this report.
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Attacks by Teen Groups Rising in D.C. and Nation
By Theola Labbé-DeBose
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 13, 2008; B01
D.C. police say they are seeing a growing number of teenagers and young adults traveling in groups to assault and rob unsuspecting citizens, a trend that mirrors crimes in cities across the country.
In an eight-hour period last week, five people were attacked by juveniles in separate incidents, including an armed carjacking, in the Southwest waterfront neighborhood. And in the past month, there have been between seven and 11 "pack robberies" in or near Adams Morgan in Northwest Washington, Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said.
Similar attacks have occurred in the Brookland area of Northeast and Chinatown. Police said the crimes are not necessarily related but are part of an increase that has led to heightened enforcement.
"They're looking for someone who has a cellphone or someone using an iPod. Or they're just looking for some fast cash or a credit card," Lanier said Friday at a news conference in Adams Morgan, where she announced that there will be more patrols there. "You'll have a lone person walking, and there are five young males or more, and it's ridiculous. There's no need to beat people in those circumstances, but that's what they do. Just senseless."
The attacks in Southwest unfolded between 5 p.m. Monday and 1 a.m. Tuesday. The trouble began when five teenagers on bicycles attacked a man from behind, pushed him to the ground, hit him in the face and stomach, and fled. Police said they think that the attackers were between 16 and 18 years old.
A 52-year-old lawyer suffered serious head trauma after four to six teenagers beat him in the 1000 block of Sixth Street SW about 9 p.m. Monday. Later Monday, also in Southwest, two teenagers stuck a gun in a man's face, slapped him and demanded his belongings, police said. After the victim said he didn't have anything, the teenagers fled, police said.
In another incident, a man was hit in the head from behind with a brick. And three youths confronted a Southwest resident early Tuesday in the 200 block of I Street SW, surprising him after he parked his car at an apartment building. After forcing a gun to his head, the youths stole $20 and his car and led a U.S. Capitol Police official on a chase until they crashed the car, authorities said. Canine units eventually forced Raymond Sturgis, 17, of the 200 block of K Street SW out of hiding, and he has been charged as an adult.
Irv Gamza, 83, who has lived in Southwest for more than four decades, said crimes committed by teenagers have become more serious in the past several years. "First they just annoy or harass people. Then they start getting physical. And then they rob," Gamza said.
Gamza, who is a member of the police Citizens' Advisory Council, said that if anyone in the neighborhood claims not to be afraid of groups of roaming juveniles, they "are just lying to themselves."
"You have some juveniles who are not bothering anyone. And you have some where you don't know under what condition you're going to have a problem," he said.
At a national violent-crime summit last week, sponsored by the nonprofit Police Executive Research Forum, police chiefs exchanged stories about the spate of robberies and juvenile crimes, Executive Director Chuck Wexler said.
In recent years, police in the District and other cities have dealt with spikes in robberies. Although the numbers posted by cities across the country decreased in the past two years, they remain higher than in 2004, Wexler said. In the District this year, there were 3,180 robberies as of Sept. 30, roughly the same as last year. The numbers for the month of September were up, however -- 413 compared with 388 last year -- based on preliminary statistics on the police Web site.
"Robbery is the number one crime accelerating across the country in large, medium and small areas," Wexler said.
The Police Executive Research Forum, which tracks statistics in 56 cities, has pinpointed an "explosive increase" of juveniles participating in robberies, Wexler said. In Minneapolis, police and government officials created a juvenile unit just to deal with the rising crime in that area, he said.
Lanier, who attended the crime summit, was struck by the parallels between the recent attacks in the District and those in other cities.
"I talked to a lot of chiefs at a conference the other day -- there were 180 chiefs and sheriffs from around the country -- and every one was saying the same thing: that this has become a real crime trend," Lanier said.
Bryan Weaver, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Adams Morgan, said he is concerned that more robberies are occurring on neighborhood streets away from the main commercial strip along 18th Street NW.
"Right now, the major concern of residents is that people are putting guns to their faces when they're coming home from work or dinner," he said.
Staff writers Paul Duggan and Martin Weil contributed to this report.
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