Bath Guardian Angels nearing 'graduation'
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

BATH - In late March, Guardian Angels founder Curtiss Sliwa told a group of area residents, "This is Day One. It's your time to rise and shine."

Six months later, 13 individuals are nearing the end of their basic training for membership in a local Guardian Angels chapter. According to local organizer Patricia Gilbert, the volunteers will graduate from the Guardian Angels training program in about a month, with Sliwa expected to attend the ceremony.

Sliwa founded The Guardian Angels in 1979 while working as the manager of a McDonalds in the Bronx. Since its founding, the organization, whose members participate in foot patrols and public safety programs, has grown to more than 60 chapters in the US and other countries.

In Bath, the first generation of Guardian Angels volunteers has been undergoing training once a week in the Full Gospel Church on Steuben Street. Gilbert said volunteers have been studying martial arts and foot patrol protocols. Next month, they will begin studying radio communications.

The group also has been listening to lectures regarding rules for citizens' arrests by Bath police Chief David Rouse.

Rouse told members of the Bath village board last week he has been advising Guardian Angels volunteers against making their own arrests and instead notifying police officers when they believe a crime is in progress.

Citizens' arrests are legal under certain circumstances, Rouse noted. "But I am very cautious when citizens invoke their right to arrest. First of all, they don't know the law.

"Second, there is a whole litany of civil actions that can be taken against a person who makes a wongful arrest."

Rouse met with local Guardian Angels volunteers Tuesday evening to review civil litigation ensuing from wrongful citizens' arrests. "Jury awards have been handed down in excess of six figures,' he said. "A citizen has the right (to make arrests), but they need to tread very lightly."

According to Gilbert, Guardian Angels volunteers are listening carefully to Rouse's advice.

"If you're in a situation where you can call the police, there's no need to violate someone's civil rights," she said.

Gilbert first invited Curtis Sliwa to Bath in November 2006, hoping a local Guardian Angels chapter would discourage drug-related activity in Bath's central business district.

Thirty-one individuals initially volunteered for a local Guardian Angels chapter. Rouse indicated that original group has been pared down to the 13 volunteers ready for the upcoming graduation.