Hollister council members approved a resolution Monday to provide funds to the Hollister Police Department to purchase supplies and equipment for the Hollister Neighborhood Watch Program.
The program was discontinued in 2002, said Police Chief David Westrick. Last year, when he became interim chief, he decided there was a real need for a physical Neighborhood Watch program. He hopes to revitalize it citywide, he said.
“We want to purchase materials to reinvigorate the neighborhood watch program in Hollister,” he said.
The department requested and received $6,000 in funds – which will be spent on street signs and window decals. The chief said the program had cost the city $180,000 to implement back in 2002, but he just needs signs and packets.
“We stripped it down to the essentials,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday.
One neighborhood, near Whale Park, has been meeting to restart their own neighborhood watch efforts, said Ashley Sand, who attended Monday’s meeting.
“The interest in the neighborhood has been phenomenal,” she said.
She said that even a little bit of help from the city toward funding these efforts would be a good thing.
“Funding, even if it’s not as much as it once was, would be beneficial,” she said.
Councilman Victor Gomez said he was glad to see neighborhoods stepping up.
“Folks need to take back their neighborhoods,” he said. “I totally support this.”
He said he thought Westrick was doing a “wonderful job” engaging the community on the subject of safety in neighborhoods.
Councilman Raymond Friend said that beyond the benefit of helping provide safer neighborhoods, watch programs bring neighbors together even if they had never met before.
“It’s important we know each other,” he said.
Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia said more engagement from neighbors would be good for safety as a whole and prevent would-be criminals from committing those crimes.
“When you see activity in the neighborhood, it would prevent people from doing stuff,” she said.
Mayor Ignacio Velazquez praised the chief’s efforts and said the renewed program would make a difference.
“You own the streets. Gang members don’t own the streets,” he said. “We want the cops to have time to go to the donut shops.”
