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By Wendy A. Case

 

ver the past few years there have been many stories

in the mainstream news about a group called The

Guardian Angels. There is much mystery and confusion
surrounding the group. The first chapter of the Guardian
Angels was founded in New York in 1979 and since then the
organization has grown to include 136 chapters in 13 countries
worldwide. One of these chapters is Vancouver’s, which started
in the early 1980s, it was disbanded, and was again restarted in
2006. To shed some light on the mystery of the Guardian Angels,
I suited up with my buddy “Tank” and his Vancouver chapter
and took to the streets of the Downtown Eastside to find out
what they were all about.

The group patrols on every Friday night through wind, rain,
snow or whatever the circumstances. It’s a small group with
different members patrolling the DTES each time. Dressed in
their familiar red coats and red berets, the Guardian Angels are
immediately recognizable on the streets of the DTES. However,
with the introduction of the Downtown Ambassadors who offer
tourist information, who are also dressed in red, some confusion
has resulted.

Members have different code names bestowed upon them

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