A focus on increased traffic enforcement stands to, at times, lead to what Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller calls a "gateway" toward discovering other criminal activity, as officers sometimes find drugs, weapons and stolen items on vehicle stops.
But we believe the chief's plan to focus on traffic patrol as the staff level increases with added Measure T dollars signifies a reactive approach that relies more on fortune and subjective suspicions than it does on aggressive gang abatement and other preventative measures that should be the supreme emphasis.
We believe local authorities instead should concentrate more resources toward finding ways to send messages to gang members and other thugs that criminal activity won't be tolerated. That could be through heightened enforcement - with correlatively more rigid prosecution by the San Benito County District Attorney's Office and cooperation of local judges - or by engaging the community and creating a watchful, indestructible front against the criminal element.
Neighborhood programs are worthwhile
We encourage the department, with its added resources, to get more involved with implementation and oversight of Neighborhood Watch- and Crime Stoppers-like programs. That's where engagement of citizens comes into play. Get the community encouraged about suppressing what's become a disturbing trend in recent years, and send that message to gang members that there's a severe risk and hefty price to pay for unlawful activity.
Why not create a lucrative reward system - potentially, partially funded by local businesses - for anonymous tips that lead to arrests? Why not, with it, allow rival gang members to turn in one another?
To its credit, the Hollister Police Department has taken a step in the right direction by gaining approval recently from the city council to revive the Juvenile Impact Program, which targets at-risk youths.
Need to send more hard criminals away
We believe local authorities can, and should, do more of these types of programs as resources allow. It's a crucial time, as the violent crime rate has spiked in recent years, to stop this madness and begin sending more of our worst criminals to prison for long, deserving sentences, to send a continual message that there's an inevitable home for lawbreakers.
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