Editorial
Front Page - Friday, May 7, 2010
Guardian Angel non-profit hopes for community embrace
Erica Tuggle
Jack Holland, the Chapter leader of the Chattanooga division of the Guardian Angels (pictured right), and his brother Iron Legs patrol crime risk areas like Coolidge Park, Highland Park, and Frazier Avenue for shifts sometimes up to twelve hours. Holland says the need for community donations is great, especially in food for a Guardian Angel on patrol, gas money and boots.
- Erica Tuggle
There’s a new sheriff in town, and in case you haven’t heard, it’s you. The constitutional right to make a citizen’s arrest is not a Gomer Pyle antic, but rather is a way for community members to ensure safety and better the community says Chattanooga Guardian Angels Chapter Leader Jack Holland.
The Guardian Angels is a non-profit organization out of New York with volunteer members dedicated to bettering communities and neighborhoods Holland says. Locally this comes in the form of patrols, cleaning up after Riverbend, flag services for Memorial and Veterans Day at the National Cemetery, free self-defense programs and visiting schools to speak against bullying and drugs.
There are 5,000 Angel members throughout the world in 14 countries. The Chatta-nooga chapter houses 17 of these members, although some chapters have anywhere from four members to 40, all depending on how fed up the community is Holland says.
Holland has been with the Angels since he was 16 and initially it was the red berets the members wore that turned him on to the group. Yet, once he started, he says he realized their purpose, their impact and their dedication. They work to be the eyes and the ears of the police that can’t be everywhere crime creeps up.
He says, “If we see something, we are on the phone calling police, and if it is a violent crime we get involved because I’m not going to stand by and see someone get beat in a back alley while I shout that the cops are on their way. I’ll go in there and do what I have to do because that’s what a decent human being does.”
Sometimes though, good things have negative associations. Holland says although the local chapter has been active for five years, many are not aware of their presence and even perceive the Angels as a gang, vigilantes or part of a militia. He says this is the furthest thing from the truth for several reasons. Every Angel undergoes a rigorous 90-day basic training program where they are instructed in self-defense, local laws, the right to arrest, knife and gun defense and verbal skills in addition to the ongoing training of members. They do not carry any type of weapons and background checks are required to join the group.
“We are very subordinate to the police. They have a hard enough job without a bunch of guys coming up and complicating it so we always keep police informed of what we are up to,” Holland says.
Holland says a lot of the reason law enforcement will have a problem with a chapter starting up is the worry about untrained people taking the law into their own hands, but he reassures the public that with their 800 page training manual, which covers all situations a member might encounter in the field including emergency first aid training, they are well prepared. Holland says the majority of the assistance they provide on patrol is medical assistance, although they have changed a couple of tires in their day as well.
The Chattanooga Angels were on hand during the recent Coolidge Park shooting, and responded at the sound of gun-
fire. Holland says in that
situation they helped police clear the area, directed traffic out of the park and helped search for the weapon.
The Chattanooga Angels have yet to receive any donations in their time here, but Holland says he thinks this is mostly due to the night patrols they do when local businesses and citizens are not aware of their presence but crime is at its peak.
Patrols night or day sometimes stretch from 10 to 13 hours he says.
“I have a bunch of dedicated guys. You have to really believe in what you are doing to do that kind of stuff for free.”
He says the needs of the group are few, but essential, such as food to gas money and especially boot donations since they walk theirs into disrepair quite often. All of the donations whether cash or material goods can be used for a tax write off too he says.
Holland says they are always looking for volunteers. The Angels hold their training sessions at a donated space at the Reality Combat Karate school on Dayton Blvd. and it is there anyone can begin to learn how to be a part of the community betterment.
To support the Angels, Holland invites everyone to join the Chattanooga Chapter of International Alliance of Guard-ian Angels on Facebook and visit the official Web page at www.guardianangels.org.
“We will stop wherever
we are on patrol and talk to someone for any length of time, because I believe in being good to people,” he says. “It could result in a recruit, or some-
one they know will want
to join.”
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