The June 12 murder and assault of two Del Cerro women awakened fears that not all is as quiet and pastoral as many area residents had come to believe.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s awakened concern about homeless people in the area, which is a good thing. It\u2019s also reawakened interest in Neighborhood Watch groups, which is a very good thing.<\/p>\n
There is some question whether the 20-year-old charged with the murder and sexual assault was one of the small homeless community in the area. San Diego police and the District Attorney\u2019s office aren\u2019t saying much of anything about Eduardo Jose Torres. Rumor has it he may have once been homeless, but whether it was in Del Cerro or not is an unanswered question right now.<\/p>\n Police Community Relations Officer John Steffen says there is an area behind the gas station at Del Cerro Boulevard and College Avenue that shows signs of becoming a homeless camp, although it isn\u2019t quite there yet.<\/p>\n \u201cThere hasn\u2019t been a real upswing in serious crime that we can attribute to the homeless,\u201d Steffen said. \u201cIt\u2019s mostly in the vagrancy area where we run into them.\u201d<\/p>\n That said, the obvious warning applies here as it does anywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you see something, or suspect something, call us. Always call us.\u201d<\/p>\n Mark Rawlins of the Del Cerro Action Council sees it a little differently.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are areas around that are considered as sort of a no-man\u2019s land around here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt could become a big problem if something isn\u2019t done about them.\u201d<\/p>\n If anything argues against a homeless community in Del Cerro, it\u2019s the fact that the homeless usually tend to gather near places where there is a chance of food and supplies being available. There just aren\u2019t that many such places in the hilly area that is much of Del Cerro, Windmill Farms being an exception.<\/p>\n One good thing this has done is to awaken much more interest in Neighborhood Watch programs all over the Del Cerro area, as well as adjoining Allied Gardens.<\/p>\n Melissa Palacios is a block leader for one of the more active Neighborhood Watch groups in Del Cerro.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a strong group of neighbors here in our area. We stay in close touch with each other, and we use computers and social media to not only communicate, but to reach out to other groups in the general area,\u201d Palacios said.<\/p>\n Palacios lives on Linfield Drive, not far from Del Cerro Drive and College Avenue, where the homeless community, whatever size of one there is, might congregate.<\/p>\n![\"IMG_9436webtop\"](\"https:\/\/missiontimescourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_9436webtop.jpg\")
<\/a>