Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly is siding with police in refusing to endorse a Guardian Angels chapter in the city.
In a joint statement, Kelly and police Chief Frank Beazley said the municipality and police department cannot support a group that encourages its members to get in physical confrontations on the street.
Kelly said it's the job of trained officers to intervene in potentially dangerous situations.
"Under no circumstances can we condone or encourage regular citizens doing this," he said in the statement released Thursday.
Beazley also worries about anyone who might get in the way.
"We cannot risk being held accountable for the actions of members of the group," the police chief said, noting officers can be held accountable for their actions and disciplined if necessary.
The Guardian Angels, whose members are identified by their red berets, was first started in New York in 1979. There are now chapters around the world.
Supporters say the unarmed volunteers deter crime as they patrol the streets, while some detractors consider the Angels a vigilante group.
The group's founder, Curtis Sliwa, has said he was asked to come to Halifax by residents frustrated with violent attacks and swarmings in the city.
Volunteers undergo rigorous training, he told CBC News in an earlier interview, and any physical confrontation remains within the parameters of what citizens are legally allowed to do.
Kelly said he made his decision about the Guardian Angels after reviewing the group's 200-page training manual, which Sliwa gave him during his last visit earlier this month.
The group is not illegal, and the police cannot stop it. Sliwa expects to have members patrolling the streets of Halifax by the spring.
But Beazley and Kelly said they hope anyone who wants to become a Guardian Angel considers joining a police-sponsored group like Citizens on Patrol instead.
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