The Guardian Angels, a volunteer crime prevention patrol group, has announced that it will begin patrolling subway trains in New York City following a surge in crime on the city’s subway train system, including a recent incident involving an illegal immigrant who allegedly set a woman on fire and burned her alive.
Announcing the plan for the Guardian Angels to patrol the New York City subway system, Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the group, explained that the Guardian Angels will begin increasing the size of its operation, according to The New York Post.
“We’re going to have to increase our numbers, increase the training, and increase our presence as we did back in 1979,” Sliwa said.
“We went from 13 to 1,000 [members] back then within a period of a year,” Sliwa added. “Because the need was there. The need is here now once again. We’re going to step up. We’re going to make sure we have a visual presence just like we had in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.”
According to The New York Post, the Guardian Angels are planning on implementing wellness checks for emotionally disturbed and homeless individuals on the subway trains, providing water to homeless individuals, and notifying the New York Police Department of any incidents.
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“We’re covering the actual trains from front to back, walking through the trains and making sure that everything is okay,” Sliwa said, according to The New York Post. “We’re doing this constantly now. Starting today. That’s going to be our complete focus because the subways are out of control.”
In a video shared on X, formerly Twitter, Sliwa explained that the Guardian Angels can have a “calming effect” and help “bring the situation to the attention of cops.”
“We train,” Sliwa said. “This is what we do. We know how to do it.”
In the event of another subway crime incident, Sliwa said the Guardian Angels will help “keep order” on the subway trains so that “nobody gets hurt, including the emotionally disturbed person or the homeless person.”
According to The New York Post, Sliwa said “hundreds of citizens” have called for the volunteer group to patrol the New York City subway system in the aftermath of last week’s subway train tragedy. The outlet noted that the Guardian Angels currently have 150 members located in New York City and will start by patrolling the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station.
Addressing the recent increase in subway crime, Sliwa said, “We’re now back to where we were when I started the group in 1979 on the subways. It’s gone full circle. I’ve never seen it this bad. Never.”