Police Don’t Know Why Crime Is Up? That’s Unacceptable
Police Don’t Know Why Crime Is Up? That’s Unacceptable
Editor,
The Hollister Police Department reported that burglaries are up over 70 percent but they don’t know why.
That answer is simply unacceptable to the residents of Hollister. Some simple plotting of the data should show when the burglaries are occurring and lead to some assumptions as to the cause.
If the bulk of the burglaries are occurring during the day on weekdays, it’s most likely school-aged children who are out breaking into houses.
If the bulk of the crimes occur after hours or on weekends, then there are other possible causes, but to simply say “we don’t know” is amazing.
Back in the 1980s, the City of San Jose put some basic information together and found that truants were responsible for a large portion of the residential burglaries. When the police department focused on picking up those children who should be in school and making sure they got back to school, burglaries dropped by 60 percent.
All of the textbooks written on modern day policing talk about the fear of crime being the biggest factor in the decline of the quality of life in any city.
Residents don’t actually have to be crime victims; they just have to be afraid that something will happen to them or their property.
The report of a 70-plus percent increase in burglaries with no explanation and several drive-by shootings this year has certainly increased the fear of crime in the City of Hollister.
Mayor Pike (and former Mayor Scattini) are former police officers who should know enough to challenge the police chief for better information and a plan.
While the chief and his staff tell us they can’t do the things they need to because of budget cuts, we also know that good leadership and innovation can get things done in tough times.
The police department is currently understaffed by four and soon five officers. Several of them have gone to work for the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office.
Why? Because morale is bad in the police department and the officers feel like they can’t make a difference there.
City leaders should be looking into the management of the police department and perhaps making some major changes soon.
A Free Lance editorial (“City Needs More Cops On the Job,” March 9) talked about recruiting efforts for the police department. But all of the incentives won’t do much good if the police department is not a desirable place to work.
An alternative that the city should consider is contracting with the San Benito County Sheriff for police services.
The cities of Saratoga and Cupertino in Santa Clara County have contracted with the Santa Clara County Sheriff for years and both cities are very happy with their police services that cost significantly less than funding their own departments.
The residents of the City of Hollister deserve some answers and, more importantly, some action now.
Tony Weir
Hollister
