Salinas City Council unanimously approved an appropriation of $620,000 at its most recent meeting to help fight human trafficking and prostitution in an East Salinas neighborhood.
The funds will be taken from Community Development Block Grant Funds, an annual allotment from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, to purchase and install new streetlights and surveillance cameras in the Alisal neighborhood bound by Roosevelt Street, Kings Street and North Madeira Avenue between East Alisal and East Market Streets.
Residents of Las Casas de Madera and the surrounding neighborhoods had expressed concern about prostitution in their community during previous meetings.
“There’s a very close, direct link between the prostitution and human trafficking,” said Salinas Police Commander James Arensdorf.
These concerns led to cross-department collaboration in search for solutions involving the Salinas Police Department, Community Development, Library and Community Services, Public Works and the City Attorney’s Office.
The cross-department coordination team first came to City Council last May, recommending more lighting and the installation of cameras in the affected area.
The team also recommended evaluating a potential correlation between food trucks parked in the area and the illicit activities. A six-month pilot program was suggested, prohibiting parking along Kern Street between East Alisal Street and East Market Street, forcing food trucks to temporarily relocate.
On Sept. 16, the coordination team brought these recommendations to the community during a special meeting at Sherwood Elementary School. While community members largely supported cameras and more lighting, concern was raised about the effects of restricting parking in the area and linking the area’s food trucks to the illegal activities.
According to Lisa Brinton, Community Development Director for the coordination team, while community members “were highly supportive of additional lighting and cameras, they felt that either a parking permit program or no parking would be too restrictive and would actually have a negative impact on the residents of the neighborhood.”
“They did not see a correlation between the undesirable activity and the food trucks and, in fact, they saw the food trucks as an overall benefit,” said Brinton.
In response to this feedback, the team recommended proceeding with the installation of lighting and cameras but recommended no further efforts to relocate or investigate local food trucks.
The city of Salinas has contracted the company Kimley-Horn to install new lighting in the area, along Roosevelt Street from Kern Street to Pearl Street.
In addition, nine surveillance cameras are set to be installed around the neighborhood, allowing the Salinas Police Department the ability to remotely monitor the area. According to a council staff report, only the Salinas Police Department will have access to the surveillance footage for investigative purposes.
Salinas Police Chief Carlos Acosta said these installations will be a part of the Salinas Police Department’s ongoing efforts to fight human trafficking and prostitution in the area.
“We’ve made significant strides in that neighborhood with targeted enforcement, active engagement…we’ve made some significant arrests and we’re working closely with some advocates,” said Acosta.
Councilmembers as well as members of the public who commented at Tuesday’s meeting expressed that they would like to see similar measures taken to fight such illegal activities in other parts of the city as well.
“Hopefully we’ll get some good results and maybe be able to expand this into some of our other neighborhoods,” said Salinas City Councilman Andrew Sandoval.
