As part of a more stringent stance against gangs, Hollister
police patrolled the city each night of the Hollister Independence
Rally in unmarked cars looking for gang members.
As part of a more stringent stance against gangs, Hollister police patrolled the city each night of the Hollister Independence Rally in unmarked cars looking for gang members.
Police arrested 25 people – 15 of them were either gang members or had gang affiliations, Police Chief Jeff Miller said. The department started the enforcement Wednesday night with a probation and parole sweep that focused on people with gang ties and ended Sunday night, Miller said.
Over the years, police have noted an increase in gang activity during the Hollister Independence Rally. Having two unmarked cars with two officers in each, specifically looking for gang activity each night during the rally could have been a reason for a decrease in violent crimes being committed this year, Miller said.
“In the past, part of the problem with violence at the rally or the potential for violent conflict is from gang members… because part of the gang lifestyle is to show you’re tough,” he said. “We wanted to send the message that we are going to exercise the suppression element of our gang strategy.”
This is the first time the department placed a direct focus on gang enforcement with specific gang units geared toward removing some of the gang presence from the rally, Miller said.
“We’re trying some new things for this department and the community,” he said. “We we’re trying to send a double message that, one, we’re not going to tolerate it, and two, we’re not going to tolerate it during the rally.”
Miller plans to conduct gang sweeps continuously throughout the year with hopes of decreasing the amount of gang activity within the city, he said.
“This isn’t the last of such efforts – we will be taking the time to put out gang cars, sometimes patrol cars and sometimes unmarked cars,” he said. “Then arrests can be made for prior activity that we’re catching up on or we can discover new crimes.”
