Police use technology and patrolling to keep the peace at Hollister Independence Rally

On the third and final day of the Hollister Independence Rally, San Benito Street was taken over with sounds and vibrations of motorcycles, live entertainment and festivities.

“This is the one thing that we look forward to every Fourth of July,” said Jayah Miranda of Hollister.

“Just hang out today,” said Alan Peck of Visalia. “Watch some bands, run into some old friends and hopefully meet new ones.”

To make sure things go off without a hitch, officers with Hollister Police and other jurisdictions patrolled the area.

“It’s been a typical rally, nothing out of the ordinary,” said Hollister Police Chief David Westrick. “The typical arrests and typical contacts we have are of course just over drinking. Some possessions of some minor weapons, violations that kind of stuff.”

Westrick told KION officers looked for suspicious activity and potential problems. They also had two command centers and used cameras and gps devices

“If on the cameras we see a problem developing we can actually look on some of our technology and find out which team is closest,” said Westrick. “We can then send them there and hopefully take care of the problem before it becomes a big problem.”

Some of the local shops and businesses also had security. This is a big weekend for profits.

“It’s been at capacity every day,” said Bob Martin Del Campo with Hollister House Bar and Grill. “It’s been hard to move around in here actually.”

A few doors down, the demand for ink at Only the Honorable Tattoos and Body Piercings was way up this weekend. They had to bring on extra staff.

“Some people, it’s their first rally and they want to commemorate it,” said tattoo artists Skan Arts. “Or sometimes people are just here and they got a little time to kill in between, so they want to get their son or daughter’s name.”

Gabrielle Garcia decided to get a tattoo of a wolf.

“Something my wife likes, she likes wolfs,” said Garcia.

The popular tattoos this weekend were skulls, roses and Hollister Rally 2017.