It's understandable that some Westwood residents, sick of neighborhood crime and disorder, are seeking outside help from the New York-based Guardian Angels crime-fighting group. The Guardian Angels may be able to make a difference in Westwood or the city as a whole, but lasting solutions still need to be built on local partnerships, particularly between residents and police.

"My preference would be to go with the people who are home-grown and who live in this area," Chief Tom Streicher said. We agree.

Although the Westwood Concern neighborhood group supports the police "1,000 percent" and helped set up its own Citizens on Patrol unit, residents still believe the Guardian Angels can bring added resources to the city.

Westwood Concern co-founder Mary Kuhl found the message of Angels leader Curtis Sliwa powerfully persuasive on a recent visit. Sliwa said the bad guys are recruiting 24/7, then asked: Who's recruiting young people for the good guys?

Kuhl helped form Westwood Concern 31/2 years ago in the belief that Westwood Community Council was not taking enough action against crime and other problems in Cincinnati's largest neighborhood. In 2003, Westwood logged 2,078 serious crime reports, more than any other neighborhood. Kuhl says this initiative is about reaching out to young people before they turn to drugs or gangs.

"We need some help," she said. "The citizenry has to get involved."

She is right, and Westwood should make full use of programs the city is developing to help residents. Westwood's Citizens on Patrol (COP) unit ranks as the largest in the city, with 60 volunteers. Equipped with police radios, the patrols act as additional eyes and ears for police.

Officer Eric Franz, who coordinates the 22 neighborhood COP teams, says Westwood's team fingered a drug mart operating out of a storefront. "They saw it; we didn't," he said. "No way can 1,000 sworn officers stop everything that's going on."

The city also is jointly training residents and cops to form Community Problem Oriented Policing teams. Rick Biehl, a former assistant police chief, heads the new Community Police Partnering Center. He would ask: What does Westwood expect the Guardian Angels to do that the community can't do for itself?

Ironically, he, too, uses the term "guardianship." He argues first the problem needs to be well-defined or the response won't be very effective, then residents need to take guardianship over the "crime triangle" of victim, offender and location. Parents who take turns monitoring a bus stop each morning can deter criminals and schoolkid fights.

"More often than not, the best guardians are people with a stake in the neighborhood," Biehl said. That applies to "angels" of all ages.