Guardian Angels support revitalization in Sussex Borough

Sussex - Walk through downtown Sussex, and some see subtle but noticeable changes. Teenage gangs don’t vandalize cars in the Tri-State Theatre parking lot and street fights rarely spill out of bars. New tenants are filling abandoned shops . According to some borough residents, shop owners and local officials, much of the credit should go to a local chapter of the Guardian Angels that was formed nearly a year ago. While the Angels aren’t a direct replacement for the local police department that was disbanded in 1991 due to budget problems, many say their presence has helped deter mischievous activity throughout the community. The volunteers, who are cloaked in red berets and red jackets bearing the Guardian Angels’ emblem, have also been responsible for breaking up fights and reporting other crimes to the New Jersey State Police, which is assigned to patrol the area. “All these things are helping to clean up the town and people will have pride in living here,” said Susan Sanford, co-owner of The Flying Pig Gallery in downtown Sussex. That feeling didn’t exist in Sussex ten years ago, added Sanford. Now, “people are feeling a sense of place.” The concept behind forming a chapter of the Guardian Angels began to take shape right around the 2004 borough elections. Local business owners asked Mayor Katherine Little and council members “to keep order on downtown streets,” said then newly elected Councilman Jim Ezzo. Shopkeepers had considered the idea of a neighborhood watch before, so Ezzo, who is now the group’s chapter leader, began exploring the possibility. One of the first people he thought of was Curtis Sliwa, the famed leader of the New York City Guardian Angels. After contacting Sliwa in the fall of 2004, Ezzo was pleasantly surprised to discover that Sliwa was willing to travel to Sussex to speak to residents about his group. Sixty people showed up at the First Baptist Church in October of that year to hear Sliwa explain the Guardian Angels. Twenty people signed up for free training with members of the New York City and south New Jersey chapters. Volunteers received 12 weeks of “rigorous” instruction, including CPR, first aid, martial arts and conflict intervention training, said Robert W. Champy, the assistant chapter leader. Members of the Guardian Angels range from 16- to over 60-years-old and hail from Vernon, Franklin, Sussex, Ogdensburg and Wantage. “We have to volunteer as a graduation requirement, but I saw this as an opportunity to do some good,” said Annalena Snure, a 17-year-old junior from Wantage, who is a charter member. Sgt. James Visco, assistant station commander at the New Jersey State Police in Augusta, said he didn’t have any statistics available to determine whether or not the Sussex Guardian Angels have had a quantifiable impact on reducing crime in the area. He hopes to conduct a comparative analysis on the borough’s crime rates once the group celebrates its first anniversary next month. Visco, who is also the liaison to the Sussex Guardian Angels for the State Police, said the group has helped break up some assaults and prevented people from loitering downtown. Lt. Ed Lyon, station commander at the New Jersey State Police in Augusta, was less bullish. “I don’t think that their presence has changed their situation in terms of cutting down the crime rate as much as they expected it to,” he said. Michael J. Hanifan, Sr., the Sussex Borough prosecutor for the past four years, however, said there has been a “noticeable” decrease in the number of “quality of life” crimes in the area. Hanifan estimated that there has been a 25 percent decrease in these type of criminal offenses in Sussex over the past year. Stuart Baker, co-owner of Baker’s Pharmacy, a fixture of downtown Sussex for the past 33 years, said he also believed that the Guardian Angels have been a deterrent to crime. “It’s been positive - there are fewer kids hanging around outside now,” added Lorenzo Maltese, owner of Lorenzo’s Pizza. Ray Trivedi, owner of Ratti’s News in downtown Sussex, is grateful to the Guardian Angels for what they have accomplished. “Some senior citizens were afraid to come into town to buy a newspaper or fill a prescription at the drug store at night,” he said. Now, older people are more willing to come into town, which Trivedi said, had resulted in a 30 to 40 percent increase in his business over the past year. “Now everything is nice and peaceful.”