Hollister leaders hope this sequel is better than the
original.
More than a year after the inception of a gang task force
– which fizzled into a single meeting among anxious officials
and community members – the undertaking is back.
Hollister leaders hope this sequel is better than the original.
More than a year after the inception of a gang task force – which fizzled into a single meeting among anxious officials and community members – the undertaking is back.
The City Council on Monday endorsed the formation of another advisory committee on gang issues – officially called the Gang Task Force Advisory Board.
This time, however, Police Chief Jeff Miller believes the 10-member board composed of various officials and residents will persist, he said, as long as its members remain committed.
Miller wasn’t around yet when the Council formed the first task force, the failure of which officials attribute to the sudden retirement of former Chief Bill Pierpoint, who spearheaded the effort.
Miller said he would rather focus on the future; one that, telling by a recent spike in gang-related crime in Hollister, could get ugly.
Many officials believe it already has.
District Attorney John Sarsfield, whom Miller recommended for membership on the advisory board, acknowledged gang activity has ballooned in recent months.
“Over the long term, yes, it has been getting worse,” Sarsfield said. “It kind of goes in waves. Right now, I’d say we’re definitely on an upswing.”
He was talking about three shootings, or attempted homicides, in the past nine months. Moreover, police officials have been responding to an extraordinary number of drive-by shootings and often dispatched calls of “shots fired.”
Many gang-related fights have broken out, sometimes escalating into life-threatening circumstances. At Kmart in late March, two suspected Surenos, both teenagers, instigated a scuffle with a 17-year-old employee in the store, according to police. One assailant retrieved a hammer and used it to repeatedly strike the victim, who survived.
And schools, observers say, have become breeding grounds for such continued friction among Nortenos and Surenos – two rival factions and the primary force of gang activity in Hollister.
Enough – city officials again say – is enough.
Among Miller’s recommendations for the task force: Sarsfield, Council members Robert Scattini and Pauline Valdivia, a school board member, a Hollister Downtown Association member, a judge, a member of the media, a member of the faith community and a resident at large.
It’s that board, Miller said, that will guide the direction of awareness and gang prevention in Hollister.
Following a model developed by Santa Rosa – another city facing a recent spike of gang activity – the board must recruit a wide spectrum of residents into the fray, Miller said.
Through ensuing public workshops, officials hope to formulate ideas for awareness and prevention: ways of reaching at-risk kids before it’s too late, or parents who may be oblivious. Specific dates for such meetings have not been scheduled.
“We’re only going to be bound by our creativity,” said Miller, who will also be a board member.
Scattini, also the county marshal, believes something must be done now before the current sense of urgency turns into an outright disaster. Hollister is surrounded by cities – Salinas and Gilroy – where it’s too late, in many respects, to hold out such hope.
“It’s now or never,” Scattini said. “We really need it now.”
One reason city leaders hope to halt the problem at its roots through an awareness campaign, officials acknowledge, is the worsening state of the city budget. With dwindling resources, it has become increasingly difficult for officers to combat gangs on the streets.
Furthermore, the school resources officer, who has mostly monitored area high schools and kept a close eye on their gang factions, was cut effective July 1. Plus, a crime prevention officer, who runs the youth-targeted DARE program, was also recently cut due to budget restraints.
“I’ll be the first to tell you we need more officers,” Miller said.
But Miller also believes there are other ways to combat the trend, he said. And the task force, as Scattini put it, is “a good start.”
Valdivia said she has received many complaints from her constituents. She believes gang activity is “running rampant.” Officials and police, she said, can’t stop the problem alone.
Councilman Brian Conroy agreed.
“It will take those kinds of people,” Conroy said. “Not just business people, but people from all over the community.
“It will take people being interested in their own children.”
For more information about the Gang Task Force Advisory Board, call the Police Department at 636-4330.
