Ayala leads the D.C. chapter of the Guardian Angels — citizen volunteers who patrol neighborhoods and public transportation serving as positive role models and discouraging dangerous behavior. We caught him on the job at L’Enfant Plaza, and the New York City native shared with us his motivation for the work he has done for the past 27 years. How’d you get your start as an Angel?
I started at 15 years old. I got interested when I learned they taught martial arts, and that they were out in the community helping people. I had wanted to be a cop when I grew older, and I saw this as a way to protect people, and to make a difference. I’ve been doing it in D.C. for the past 22 years.
Why do you stick with it?
For me, it’s helping the kids. The more young people that join the Guardian Angels, the more rewarding it is for me. That’s one more young person not out there joining the gangs, or getting in trouble, but instead doing positive things out in their community.
Kids can be pretty tricky, and their attitudes aren’t always sparkling. How do you deal with them when they’re not on their best behavior?
A lot of the time they look at us like we’re the police, so a lot of the time there are no tricks. They give us respect because of the uniform.
What do you perceive as the biggest need among youth in this city?
When young people get in trouble, they do what they do because they don’t have anything else to do. They don’t know how to get involved in stuff, oftentimes because there’s nothing for them to get involved in. That’s why we want to get them join with us — to give them a better opportunity.
– Leah Fabel
