HANFORD, Calif. (KFSN) -- Law enforcement agencies in Kings County took part in a town hall meeting Saturday afternoon to raise awareness about public safety. This was a meeting where police chiefs from cities including Hanford, Corcoran, Lemoore and Avenal came to talk about issues like violent crime, drug problems and even the extreme drought.
Concerned neighbors went to the special meeting nearly a week after a woman was stabbed to death in Kings County on Jackson Avenue near 15th. The suspect who was arrested is 37-year-old Jose Filiberto Hernandez.
Kings County Sheriff David Robinson is seeing a rise in violence in the area.
"There have been some increases in certain types of crimes. Some of the violent crimes, some of the property crimes we have seen some increases, and so we are trying to be proactive in our approach with our communities to make sure we get individuals, the community members involved," said Robinson.
Assemblymember Rudy Salas organized the town hall meeting. The police chiefs answered questions from people about issues in their neighborhoods. Officers are seeing a big rise in heroin use, which often leads to other criminal activity.
"I think all of our communities in the county have seen an increase in crime over the last couple of years, and it has to do with AB 109 and jail overcrowding," said Lemoore Police Chief Darrell Smith.
Smith says the city saw a more than 7-percent increase in felony crimes in 2013 compared to the year before. He and other police chiefs in the South Valley are gearing up for a new wave of crimes because so many people are out of work in this extreme drought.
"There are literally thousands of acres that are no longer being cultivated and that means people are being unemployed," said Avenal Police Chief Jack Amoroso.
"People are losing their jobs or they are no longer working the seasonal jobs, so they have to find a way to fend for their family, so I believe we haven't even seen the worst of it yet," said Smith.
The police chiefs say they're trying to make sure people who are out of work in this drought are connected with aid workers to help them with food and any other assistance they need.