Guardian Angels Plan to Patrol Border Areas

The founder of the Guardian Angels said Thursday the red-bereted, self-styled crime fighters will soon begin patrolling one of the most violent areas of the border between Tijuana and San Diego.

The announcement was greeted skeptically by the law enforcement officials who patrol the border, where illegal aliens are robbed and beaten daily.

Curtis Sliwa, 31, said 50 Guardian Angels from throughout Southern California will cross the San Ysidro port of entry today to meet with Mexican authorities and discuss plans to patrol Colonia Libertad, a hillside residential area overlooking the border.

Additionally, he said the group plans nightly patrols through “Dead Man’s Canyon,” an area mile east of the San Ysidro port of entry. He said that the group’s patrols, which he said will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, will be a “deterrent to bandits.”

Members of the Guardian Angels will patrol both areas from 6 p.m. to midnight weekdays, and 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. on weekends, he said.

Law enforcement officials said they will try to discourage the Guardian Angels.

“They’re courting disaster,” said Cmdr. Cal Krosch, head of the Border Crimes Prevention Unit. “We have groups of 15 to 20 aliens being robbed by bandits. They have not talked to us--have not approached this department. I see nothing but trouble.

“Any group that were to go down there and do what they intend to do . . . would be improper. I see it causing problems for our operations. Their mere presence could conceivably create operating difficulties for the Border Crimes task force . . . could make it even more dangerous--intensify an already dangerous situation.

“We don’t think it’s proper. It could prove to be highly dangerous for them. Unarmed, untrained people putting themselves in an obviously dangerous area.”

Additionally, many authorities believe the border bandits, who prey on undocumented aliens crossing into the United States, live in Colonia Libertad. Those authorities have branded Colonia Libertad as being “one of the toughest places in the world.”

Sliwa said he plans to organize a Tijuana chapter of the Guardian Angels, made up of citizens in the area. Already, eight people have expressed interest in establishing a Tijuana chapter, Sliwa added. The Guardian Angels pay for their patrols through donations, Sliwa said.

He said the group’s efforts will be two-fold: “To deal with crime in the community on a day-to-day basis (in Colonia Libertad and Colonia Juarez)” and to have an “impact on violence” in the canyons.

“I haven’t heard about it before,” Gene Smithburg, Border Patrol agent and department spokesman, said Thursday. “I think we’ll have to see what will happen. No one has approached us.

“At this time I don’t have any statement. If they’re going to do it (patrol the canyons), they’re going to come into contact with San Diego police or Border Patrol and we’ll have to determine what they’re going to do.”

Sliwa started the Guardian Angels in February, 1979, to deter violence in the New York subways. The group is active in 57 cities across America, including San Diego and Chula Vista.

The Guardian Angels travel on foot in small, unarmed groups to deter crime and provide citizens with assistance. They wear red berets.

The San Diego chapter of the Guardian Angels operates out of donated space in the Jewelers Exchange Building downtown. That building is being vacated May 31, and Sliwa said the group will have to search for headquarters.