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Citizens turn out to be future Guardian Angels

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



SPRINGFIELD Over 35 people have signed up to be considered as members of a Guardian Angels chapter for the city, according to Guardian Angels Senior Director Arnaldo Salinas.

Salinas explained to Reminder Publications the three-month training period started on Wednesday at Lysak's Family Martial Arts and Fitness Center on Allen St.

The training started with an orientation session and will be followed with instruction in self-defense tactics. The training will be one to two days a week at a time most convenient to the applicants.

Salinas said that all applicants will go through a background check and all must be certified in CPR.

"There is no such thing as an instant Guardian Angel," he said,

City Council candidate John Lysak, whose brother owns the martial art centers, said that he has been the person who has worked hard to get the Guardian Angels organization to consider coming to the city. Lysak's platform as a city councilor includes working to form an auxiliary police unit, but he does not see the Guardian Angels as auxiliary police.

Lysak views the Guardian Angels as "a little extra help."

Salinas said counter to the public perception, Guardian Angels spend "90 percent of their time helping people out in the street." First aid training, such as CPR, is therefore very important to their mission.

"We're not on the street like Batman and Robin," he said.

He said that Commissioner Edward Flynn would be providing a police officer during the training. Salinas explained the power of the Guardian Angels is "no more than a citizen."

Physical fitness is a key component of the organization as Salinas said an Angel would be required to walk five to seven miles during a patrol.

And while the recruits will be trained in how to defend themselves, Salinas said, "You don't have to be Bruce Lee or Bruce Lee's sister."

The Angels patrol in groups of six or seven to prevent one-on-one confrontations.

Springfield's problems pale to other communities in which Salinas has worked, he said.

"The problems here are not insurmountable," he said.

What the Guardian Angels are more interested in is preventing problems from growing. Salinas said the organization knows it is more difficult to change the behavior of a 25 year-old man than a child of four or five. The organization has programs on bullying, classroom behaviors and school safety. The group and its tactics are always evolving, he added.

Salinas said the concept of the Guardian Angels as neighbors watching over each other is "nothing new it's as old as time itself."