Neighbors react to arrests made at problem home in Palm Springs

Homeowners in Palm Springs are reacting to arrests made at what they call a “problem house.”

The Palm Springs Police Department arrested five people Monday during a probation compliance check at a home near Demuth Park.

This isn’t the first time police have responded to the house.

Palm Springs Police spokesman Lt. Mike Kovaleff said his department has been to that home at least 30 times since June.

Neighbors believe illegal activity is taking place in their neighborhood, which is right next to a popular Palm Springs Park.

Some said they’ve seen people do drugs in broad daylight, others have had numerous things stolen.

They said they would like to see Palm Springs police visit more often.

Candice and Jennifer Sweet have lived in the Demuth Park neighborhood since 2009.

They said they see all sorts of strange things happening.

“Just the other day someone lit up a pipe in front of the house, a meth pipe. And then back behind us someone had told us about stolen checks,” Jennifer Sweet said.

Albert Wines plays tennis at the courts across the street.

He said he’s seen police visit the home before.

“I believe two weeks ago police were there and a couple of cars and I see the neighbors looking over the fence. I didn’t know exactly what was going on,” Wines said.

Wines said he’s witnessed a revolving door at the residence and that worries him.

“I have seen people sitting over here and you wonder what are they doing here cause they’re not playing any sports and they look like drug users,” Wines said.

He lives nearby and has had his share of problems.

“We’ve had eight bikes stolen, so that’s about six thousand dollars in bikes gone,” Wines said.

Everyone is in agreement that things might be a little bit safer if there were more police patrols through the neighborhood.

“We need more police presence patrolling here. We rarely see police patrol cars. There’s never a cruiser that comes through that is visible to us. They’re always reactive but there’s not progressive prevention,” Sweet said.

But police said they’re doing the best they can with their resources and have also informed other city departments to look into the property.

As for the Sweets and Wines’, they have no plans to move out of the neighborhood and hope police continue to put pressure on the bad elements that have been hanging out there.