Guardian Angels plan to return to Hub sparks controversy (civil anticrime patrols)

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Police Commissioner Edward Davis has a message for the controversial Guardian Angels: He doesn't need their help to keep Boston streets safe.

The New York-based group had a presence in Boston in the 1980s and 1990s and has vowed to return to the city after the murder of Chiara Levin, a 22-year-old Kentucky woman who was shot and killed outside a Dorchester house party on Saturday.

The founder of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Sliwa, said in a telephone interview today that he does not need the police commissioner's permission to patrol Boston.

"We can do it without the cooperation of the police, but why should we have to when we had their cooperation from '81 to '92," Sliwa said.

The group has decided to bring its volunteer army back to Boston at the request of about a half dozen former Guardian Angels who live here who are increasingly concerned by the city's crime rate, Sliwa said. He will be here Thursday and hopes to meet with department officials.

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