The San Diego chapter of the Guardian Angels and other Angels members from throughout Southern California held a community meeting on Monday, Oct. 23, at the Ocean Beach Masonic Center to discuss crime in the community and assist in developing solutions.
The Guardian Angels have been organizing their efforts in the neighborhoods of Ocean Beach and Point Loma and discussed plans to expand night patrols to Mission Beach and Pacific Beach in light of the recent sexual assaults, as well as North Park.
“We wanted to provide a forum for open dialogue with the community and representatives from local governments and also law enforcement because they are up against the wall with limited funds and officers are being retired and also recruited from other areas,” said Diana Valentine, a Point Loma resident who requested Guardian Angels assistance for the area in September.
Valentine explained that another goal of the meeting was to encourage community members to step up and join the group. The Guardian Angels are in a similar situation as the police, she said. Declining enrollment has resulted in some members traveling from as far away as Los Angeles, Ventura and Riverside to reinforce the small, local chapter led by Erick Wong.
“We can’t continue to take Guardian Angels from other areas,” Valentine said. “We need our own local residents to participate.”
The meeting included safety tips for residents “” including a pepper-spray demonstration “” to equip residents with the information necessary to protect themselves.
“The number one thing is that we take personal responsibility for our own safety first,” she said. “We cannot rely on city officials or police officers all the time to handle every little thing.”
Representatives from the offices of District 2 Councilman Kevin Faulconer and Police Chief William Landsdowne were also in attendance.
For more information about the local chapter, call (619) 964-8099 or visit www.guardianangels.org.