MOCO Sheriff holds town hall in south Monterey County

Monterey County Sheriff Steve Bernal was in the hot seat Thursday night. After a recent spike in gang violence in south Monterey County, people looked to the sheriff for answers at a town hall meeting in King City.

More deputies, gang violence and safety were the major concerns for residents.

“King City can be the nice peaceful place that it used to be,” King City resident Debbie King said.

King has lived in King City for 40 years. She’s part of Town Watch, a group of community members who work with police and act as extra eyes on the streets. She hopes Bernal can help crack down on the recent gang violence in south Monterey County.

“A lot of these guys that are committing these crimes are all connected in all four cities down here. So we all need to work together,” said Bernal.

Investigators said they still have very few leads in the recent shootings.

The sheriff’s office has assigned five homicide detectives.

“Our overtime went up a little bit but that’s a sacrifice were going to have to make,” said Bernal.

Still south Monterey County residents have hope for the future. King explains her hope for King City, “That the gangs are a thing of the past and that people aren’t afraid to raise their kids here anymore.”