A CELEBRATION OF ANGELS
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

PHOTO BY ROB PRICE Guardian Angels founder Curtiss Sliwa congratulates Patricia Gilbert of Bath for her completion of basic training in becoming a member of a Bath Guardian Angels chapter. Gilbert will serve as leader of the local group.

BATH - Guardian Angels founder Curtiss Sliwa Tuesday presided over the certification of 12 area residents who will form a Bath chapter of the renown neighborhood safety and patrol organization.

"Tonight is a celebration," Sliwa said, saluting in particular Bath village resident Patricia Gilbert, who began calling Sliwa more than a year ago with requests to help form a local Guardian Angels chapter. "She kept calling, and she was persistent, she was tenacious," Sliwa said.

To the new recruits wearing the iconic red berets and jackets signifying membership in the Guardian Angels organization, Sliwa said, "You're making a statement to the people of Bath."

Village Mayor David Wallace also congratulated the new Guardian Angels members. "I'm looking forward to seeing those red hats on the street," the mayor said.

Wallace and Bath police Chief David Rouse met with Sliwa a year ago, when the Guardian Angels founder first visited Bath to assess interest in forming a local chapter. Both men told Sliwa the village government would support a Guardian Angels chapter if there were sufficient local interest.

In recent months, Rouse has been meeting with members of the prospective chapter to advise them on police protocols and civil rights matters, especially regard to citizen arrests.

Rouse has urged local Guardian Angels to call for police assistance as an alternative to making their own arrests, and while Sliwa Tuesday claimed Guardian Angels would "exercise our right to make a citizen's arrest," he praised the local chapter for working closely with the police department.

Two weeks ago, Rouse reported a member of the Guardian Angels chapter tipped off police regarding a local bicycle theft ring. That tip led to one arrest to date, made by police officers.

Gilbert told the Courier she will serve as Bath chapter leader for the Guardian Angels, while Bath resident James Murray will serve as assistant chapter leader.

The Bath chapter joins a worldwide network of Guardian Angels organizations located, according to Sliwa, in more than 100 cities and ranging in size from Mexico City to the Village of Bath.

"The one thing they have in common is crime," he said.