The Hollister City Council created a gang task force advisory
board Monday in the hopes of curtailing a problem officials say
could get out of hand without the proper precautions.
The Hollister City Council created a gang task force advisory board Monday in the hopes of curtailing a problem officials say could get out of hand without the proper precautions.
The board, comprised of 10 community members ranging from the police chief to a pastor and a judge, were chosen to be part of a steering committee that will hold community meetings to attack the gang problem head on, said Police Chief Jeff Miller.
The group will meet with the community as needed to gather opinions, feelings and possible solutions to gang activity.
“I think we are on a course toward having a serious, serious gang problem if we don’t do something about it now,” Miller said. “There’s no single strategy that will work for every kid, every family… We are only limited by our creativity and different perspectives.”
Some of the people on the board were recruited because of their involvement and knowledge of the community, and others volunteered their time, he said.
Rick Maddux, owner of Maddux Jewelry, agreed to represent the Hollister Downtown Association on the board because he believes the gang problem is prevalent enough that it needs to be addressed immediately.
“It’s not something that can be done by one person or one entity,” Maddux said. “Unless the community gets involved, nothing’s gonna get done. It will be Band-Aid after Band-Aid.”
Members will hold their first meeting sometime this month, and the first orders of business will be appointing a chair person, formatting how the larger community meetings will be handled and other various “housekeeping things,” Miller said.
The ultimate goal of the board is to fully identify the gang problem and the perspective of the gang problem, which can be two different things, he said.
To do this, the board will have to identify specific strengths and weaknesses of the community. For example, if the board finds the faith community is particularly devoted to a solution and wants to work with children who are more vulnerable to gangs, that is one avenue that could be focused on, Miller said.
Conversely, if they find one of the community’s weaknesses is a lack of resources, or that a high percentage of commuters or parental absenteeism is a contributing cause, they can focus on ways to mitigate those factors, he said.
“We will be looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the community in terms of how it affects the gang problem overall, and looking at different ways to deal with it,” he said. “People bring different perspectives to the problem and different assets to solving the problem.”
