Now that Harford County Sheriff Jesse Bane has been in office for more than two months, some in Edgewood say an effort to form a chapter of the Guardian Angels in Edgewood is no longer necessary.

“He has completely turned that agency around, but he has not had the time he needs to effect change,” said Sam Gibson, chairman of the Edgewood Community Council’s Safe and Secure Neighborhoods committee.

Bane “knows what he is doing, and he has not had time to implement all of his plans,” said Edgewood resident William Goforth.

Gibson said with Bane’s overall accessibility to the community and his commitment to keep more deputies in Edgewood, people are noticing a difference.

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“I don’t think the Guardian Angels are needed. Let [Bane] do his job, and if after a while the problems have not gotten better, sure, let’s talk about the Angels coming to Edgewood,” Gibson said.

But that talk has already begun, according to Marcus Dent, the chapter president of the Baltimore Guardian Angels.

Dent said he and Harford County Council Member Dion Guthrie, D-District A, met with Bane on Jan. 29. Bane then asked that they meet again to work out an agreement, Dent said.

Dent expected the second meeting with Bane to take place in the next month.

But Dent also said the Angels can’t be effective if they do not have the support of the community.

“If we do not have the support of the sheriff and the community, I won’t bring the Angels there,” Dent said.

Bane told Edgewood residents at a community meeting Saturday that he was not opposed to the Guardian Angels forming in Harford, but he wanted to set up pilot neighborhoods for the group to begin their patrols.

mplum@baltimoreexaminer.com