Law enforcement holds summit, Hollister officials demand
answers
District Attorney-elect John Sarsfield met with local law
enforcement leaders on Monday
– and high on their list of priorities was how to suppress the
county’s gang activity, one of several steps over the past week
indicating a new get-tough attitude by elected and appointed
officials.
Law enforcement holds summit, Hollister officials demand answers
District Attorney-elect John Sarsfield met with local law enforcement leaders on Monday – and high on their list of priorities was how to suppress the county’s gang activity, one of several steps over the past week indicating a new get-tough attitude by elected and appointed officials.
Members of the Hollister City Council have begun asking questions and demanding an official assessment of the gang problem, and Brian Conroy, newly appointed mayor, said during his acceptance speech that battling gangs must be a cooperative effort between the city and county and vowed to help.
The cooperation has already begun. The county marshal, the Hollister Police Department, the San Benito Sheriff’s Office, the jail commander, members of the probation department and the UNET task force all met with Sarsfield to discuss approaches.
“We took the first step toward working toward gang suppression yesterday,” Sarsfield said. “To my knowledge that was the first time all of us sat down ever.”
The meeting comes on the heels of a story in The Pinnacle outlining the rise in gang violence, including the seemingly random murder of a man at a local car wash after the assailant asked if he was affiliated with a rival gang, and the stabbing of a 14-year-old boy asked the same question.
Sarsfield asked law enforcement leaders how his office could work more efficiently with local police agencies. The meetings will become a regular feature of how local law enforcement agencies do business, he said.
Sarsfield intends to improve communication between law enforcement agencies throughout the region, including those in Southern Santa Clara County. Gilroy police officials believe that their intensive gang-eradication efforts are driving some members across the border into San Benito County, yet agencies from the two counties don’t meet to discuss mutual problems.
Sarsfield vowed in an earlier interview that he plans to file enhancement charges against gang members to toughen their sentences. In the future, when gang members commit crimes they could serve a minimum 85 percent of their sentence.
To that end, Sheriff Curtis Hill said his office would begin going through data collected from inmates entering the county’s jail system that is used to separate rivals from each other.
“We do a classification (when entering the jail) on all of them and in that process these guys are claiming their gang affiliation,” Hill said. “That adds all kinds of good enhancements on charging if you were doing it in conjunction with a gang-related activity.”
A similar process is beginning at the Probation Department, according to County Probation Officer Deborah Botts.
“It’s about time that we had a countywide coordinated effort on this,” she said. “I’m just pleased that everyone is on the same page. I don’t believe in wannabes. In my opinion, the wannabes are still trying to prove themselves and are the greatest risk.”
It is not clear how many adults on probation are affiliated with gangs, but that will change, she said. As far as juveniles on probation, she said, there are about 50 known kids the probation department must stay on top of that are considered full-fledged gang members.
Chief Bill Pierpoint agreed that the meeting is the first step toward getting anything done.
“I felt very positive about it, that we will, hopefully, see action in this area where we haven’t in the past,” he said.
Meanwhile at Monday’s council meeting, Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia asked the HPD to formally assess its resources to fight gangs and to assess the scope of the problem.
“It’s not as big as other communities, but it’s out there,” Valdivia said. ” I want a report so the community can hear and listen.”
The report will be presented to the council sometime in January. Part of the solution is to end the current state of denial, Valdivia said, because that allows gangs to grow in strength and virulence. A friend of her family, she said, is struggling with a son that is becoming involved in a gang. The friend does not know what to do.
“Where do these people go? Who do they call for help? Is there a program in place?” Valdivia asked.
Councilman Tony Bruscia also said he wants to learn about how communities can fight gangs. Both he and Conroy intend to do ride alongs with a police anti-gang team in Gilroy, which has been grappling with gang violence since the 1970s.
“Gilroy is obviously having great success with what they’re doing and there’s obviously some things we can take from it,” Bruscia said.
