Edgewood residents who live on Eloise Lane and Judy Way will likely be the first to see the red berets of the Guardian Angels walking the streets.
After ironing out details with Harford County Sheriff Jesse Bane and members of his command staff on how the organization will operate, the Guardian Angels will be moving forward with recruiting members for an Edgewood chapter this weekend at the Harford Mall.
“They won?t be coming in and taking over the community,” said Harford County Councilman Dion Guthrie, D-District A, at a meeting of the Edgewood Community Council Wednesday night. Rather, the Angels will train Edgewood residents on how to take back their streets from gangs and other violent criminals.
“We want the community to take responsibility for their neighborhood,” said Marcus Dent, the president of the Baltimore chapter of the Guardian Angels, who has been working with Guthrie.
Dent said the Angels are working with Bane on drafting a memorandum of understanding, which will outline the group’s role in the community.
In the meantime, the Angels will be accepting applications for new members at the Harford Mall from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
“We’re going to need volunteers if this is going to successful,” Guthrie said.
The Edgewood library has committed to providing the Guardian Angels with office space, and an Edgewood resident has offered to pay for the group?s telephone service, Guthrie said.
Bane said Thursday that Eloise Lane and Judy Way were chosen to be the pilot neighborhood for the Guardian Angels because the residents were eager to see the group on patrol.
He said he wanted the group to begin work in a specific neighborhood and not be overwhelmed trying to cover all of Edgewood.
