Participants in a town hall meeting at the Sacred Heart Community Service center had a surprise last night. They were meeting to demand that the police reinstate crime prevention specialists to assist them in handling growing crime in their neighborhood. The police responded that they would.

The problem began with the city’s budget. Crime specialists were cut back from certain neighborhood, even though crime was on the rise. Part of the problem that the residents face is that so many of the crimes go unreported. A recent survey found that two-thirds of the residents did not report crimes that they knew about.

The police decided to act. Though they cannot reestablish the community services unit, they can reallocate existing resources to the neighborhoods that need them most. Amid chants of, “Si se puede,” participants were informed that crime specialists would be allocated to the community for two days a week, at either Sacred Heart or the Alma Community Center.
Read More at The Mercury News.