DA is Right in Decision to Focus on Violent Crime
DA is Right in Decision to Focus on Violent Crime
Editor,
I have to agree with the DA (John Sarsfield) in placing violent crimes as top priority over minor drug offenses. Smoking a marijuana joint and other minor drug offenses in which the DA refers to, does not impose any real threat or danger to society.
Violent crimes have excessively been increasing, claiming an enormous amount of human lives, bodily injuries, post-traumatic stress and imposes many serious effects on the victims, their families, friends and all of society! The highest death-rate percentages among women and children are credited to crimes involving domestic violence, rape, kidnapping, murder, assaults, etc..
Increasingly, many boys and men also suffer as victims of these crimes. Every state and county is limited to budgets, jail space and the court calendars are overloaded with small petty crimes requiring excessive amount of taxpayers’ funds, additional budgets, jail space, court time, all resulting in a large decrease in funds and available resources to fight the more serious crimes. And with the court calendars being overloaded it also creates huge delays in the prosecution process.
I think the people need to ask themselves: If you had a choice to arrest one of two people, one being an offender who raped and killed your young innocent daughter – or the other offender having marijuana in his possession. Which would you arrest first? I don’t think that leaves questions in anybody’s mind!
Marcy Gilbert,
via e-mail
Gang Issue Nothing New
Editor,
I don’t know why everyone thinks the gang issue is new news. When I was coaching Little League baseball in the early ’90s I had several players (10 years old) tell me they were being recruited for gangs then. They were being bothered by the gangers several times a week to join. It is a problem that has been here for a long time. The reason it is becoming more prevalent now is because of the growth of the city. With growth comes more crime. The police force will never be able to keep up with the crime. Eventually they have a list of lesser crimes that they don’t even try to solve. They give you a number for the case and go on. The gangs want their share of the profit so they move in bigger numbers as the growth expands.
I believe the police and council were correct in having the number of enforcement officers available on the Fourth. What were we all hearing from the bikers before the Fourth, that they are still coming in big numbers and some were saying around 100,000 would be here. It is better to err on the side of caution than be caught flat-footed.
Tom Dean,
via e-mail
Police Still Don’t Get It
Editor,
In response to “Letters to the Editor” from Ray Woods, president of the Hollister Police Officer’s Association. (July 19, and Nicholas Rabago, July 21). I have a great amount of respect for the men and women who serve our community and country. They do thankless jobs every day. Most serve with pride.
After reading these editorials from the above individuals, it seems that they just don’t seem to get it, yet. It wasn’t the amount of officers downtown, it was their CONDUCT. It was the conduct of the elected officials that had that Cal-Trans sign on San Benito street that flashed “All Parking Laws will be Enforced.” Maybe they should have added that we don’t have a parking control officer. They talk about how we are not privy to the intelligence of the law-enforcement community. Well, I think that after the mess-up on WMD intelligence, who would believe any intelligence reports?
Their letters suggest that there were two outlaw gangs in town, who were known murderers, rapists and drug dealers. Why didn’t you arrest them? Or were they people exercising their rights of “freedom of assembly”? When did the elected officials or police decide who gets to walk down the streets, who gets to come into the community?
I read Friday’s Guest Opinion from Carol Lenoir. I don’t know what side of the motorcycle rally she was on. But the mayor and the city council allowed the crowd to behave that way in council chambers. The District Attorney needs to get all the police surveillance tapes of the rally, view them for any misappropriate conduct of the police officers, and if he finds any, charge them. To the mayor and the city council, you were elected to represent our community, our state and our country. You were not there to use your position to intimidate or harass anyone.
Carl Berglund,
Hollister
