SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Oakland's Chinatown Blue Angel Patrol team does not fly fighter jets.
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Instead this team aims to increase security in Chinatown where some have been victims of anti-Asian hate.
The team members wear matching cobalt blue vests and N-95 masks, along with black baseball hats with the word security on them.
Jacky Kuang, the son of business owners, is just 14-years-old and he’s among the volunteers who walk the street in the name of safety, carrying radios and wearing body cameras.
He described himself as a regular kid who’s sick of gun violence.
"What's so special about this team was that it's mainly formed with residents and merchants and business owners around Chinatown," Kuang told KCBS Radio.
"This team was formed in February of 2021," he continued. “There was huge in the AAPI hate crimes. Our community was fed up about it, so we decided to form this patrol team.”
The team patrols every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
"This is our home," he said. "A lot of us live here or owns a business here and make a business in this community so this is our place."
"Just our presence to make the business owners feel safe. We will always go say hi to them, to check in on them to make sure nothing happens to them, make sure they're okay."
He’s confident safety can improve. Kwan was among the dozens of Oakland Chinatown Blue Angel patrol members who offered support to find the persons responsible for Uber driver Patrick Fung in broad daylight.
Two people have been arrested for that fatal shooting.
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