Yes, we do. Many Hollister residents may not notice them, but gang members are out there. John Sarsfield, a prosecutor with the Monterey County District Attorney s office, termed Hollister s gang problem serious. Part of the problem, Sarsfield said, is that witnesses to gang crime are reluctant to come forward. It s difficult to prosecute, he said.
Nobody wants to testify because of intimidation by a defendant s fellow gang members.
California has been gang territory since before it achieved statehood. During the Gold Rush, it was fashionable in San Francisco to hang Australians, Sarsfield said. Such activity continued through the Barbary Coast days of the late 19th century. In the 1930s, Hispanic gangs dotted southern California. Today, there are an estimated 200,000 gang members in the state.