Now a cooperative effort by neighbors, parks department officials, and local police officers is having a positive effect. We're working to offset that perception. The watch covers the corner of Sonoma and Santa Rosa avenues, south A Street where it meets Santa Rosa Avenue, and all of Sonoma Avenue to the freeway, encompassing some 250 households and 30 businesses. They don't remember what it was like here when finding a used syringe in your yard was a regular occurrence. Still, she refuses to walk through the park at night.
People hide in the park, sleep in the bushes, and blatantly sell drugs.
Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Tony Wynne says violent crimes in the park area have declined substantially in the last several years. There were 27 enforcement calls in June 1995, six in June 1996, and 28 last month. The increase may be reflect increasing vigilance on behalf of the neighbors, Sgt. Residents report relationships with the city have improved since the neighborhood policing strategy began four years ago.