Hollydale Residents Displeased with Low Police Presence

The neighborhood of Hollydale in South Gate does not have much of a crime problem. Residents admit to feeling safe, but want more of a police presence in their area.

“The presence of the South Gate Police is not as much as it should be,” said Eric Funk, 52, who admits to feeling safe in Hollydale, but is also concerned about the lack of a police presence, and what can result from it.  “You only see them once in a while.”

The call for more vigilance has also been raised by some businesses in the neighborhood.

“I would like to see more vigilance,” sad Felipe Diaz, owner of San Francisco Real Estate, who is not optimistic about the economic strength of the city's sources. “But we have to take into account that these are difficult times.”

The economic downturn has also raised concerns of residents, who believe that this situation will result in more crime. Armando Plata, a resident of Hollydale, expressed his worries about this potential trend.

“I feel like we have had more breaking’s and entering’s in our neighborhood,” said Plata. “I do think it has increased.”

In April the South Gate Police Department reported only 2 residential burglaries and 3 car thefts in Hollydale. The local police insists that they do patrol Hollydale on a regularly basis. Further adding that Hollydale is considered a safe neighborhood.

“Those numbers are very low,” said Lieutenant David Pixler of the South Gate Police Department. “We would like to assign more cars to Hollydale, but one car is always assigned out there.”

The limits of the agencies manpower was cited as the reason for not putting more patrol officers in Hollydale, according to Lt. Pixler.

Some municipal politicians understand why there is a lack of patrols in the Hollydale area.

Councilmember Jorge Morales, who resides in Hollydale, has heard this complaint from several residents. Further adding that the city has had to focus its police sources in areas with more crime.

"We do try and put our resources where there is higher crime,” said Morales. “But Hollydale is blessed with not having that much crime.”

Eventhough some are not completely happy with the lack of a larger police presence in Hollydale. There are those residents, such as Funk, who point to the advantage of living in a place that is near neighboring cities when a serious crime occurs. 

“[Hollydale] is like a little finger that sticks into every other city,” said Funk. “If something [here] goes wrong, the other [neighboring cities police agencies] will also respond.”

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