San Jose Police Department

San Jose Police Department
Abbreviation SJPD
Agency overview
Formed 1849
Annual budget $285 million
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction California, USA
Size 178.2 square miles (462 km2)
Population 1,025,350
General nature • Local civilian agency
Headquarters 201 W. Mission Street
San Jose, CA 95110

Police officiers 959
Civilians 370
Agency executive
  • Edgardo (Eddie) Garcia, Chief
Facilities
Stations 2
Airbases 1
Helicopters 1
Fixed Wings 1
Website
San Jose Police website

The San Jose Police Department (SJPD) is the police agency for San Jose, California. The San Jose Police Department is led by Chief of Police Edgardo (Eddie) Garcia.

The department makes its calls for service available to the public; it is the first American city police department to make all 911 calls available via online CrimeReports.com maps. The 911 call data is updated daily.

History

The San Jose Police Department was founded in 1849. During its beginnings, the most common offenses recorded for the department were public intoxication and vagrancy, according to old jailhouse records. In 1880, the department was averaging 120 arrests per month, and the position of police chief was created. The chief also acted as the superintendent of the city jail, and by the late 1880s, the department had gone from 10 officers to 25. In the early 1905s, as the SJPD grew, more rules and regulations were instituted regarding police officers. Officers now needed to go through field training and revolver training.

The department, along with many others in the nation, changed with the introduction of the automobile and the advent of motorcycle units. The motorcycle unit mainly cited people for speeding and other traffic violations. San Jose was one of the first places to use radio and phone technology to help officers perform their duties. In 1925, the city council released the first rules and regulations manual. It was the precursor to the duty manual that the department currently uses. The San Jose Police Academy first started out as a police college for aspiring officers to earn four year bachelor's degrees with an emphasis on criminal justice. Men made up the entire police force up until 1945, when Ida Waalkes became the first female to be a sworn officer with the San Jose Police Department.

On December 8, 1941, the SJPD created an own Police Reserve Unit which exists until today, making it one of the oldest organizations of this kind in the United States.[1] SJPD Reserve Officers are California P.O.S.T Basic Police Academy certified[2] and therefore receive exactly the same training, including 500 hours of Field Training, as full-time police officers.[3] As level I reserve officers according to § 832.6(a)(1) California Penal Code, they are sworn peace officers pursuant to § 830.6(a)(1) California Penal Code who have the same duties and responsibilities as regular officers.[1] Today, the unit consists of over 100 reserve officers and is on call 24 hours, seven days a week.[1]

Community policing began to be used by the department in the early 1990s, as specific geographic areas were mapped out and assigned. This enabled officers to get to know the people and communities they patrolled, and is partially credited for keeping San Jose one of the safest large cities in America.[4]

In September 2007, the San Jose Police Department began making all its Calls for Service available to the public [5] through a partnership with Crime Reports.com.[6] San Jose was the first American city to make all 911 calls available via online "CrimeReports.com" maps.

Since fall 2014, the San Jose Police Department maintains a uniformed auxiliary police which consists 28 of Community Service Officers (CSOs) who attend a five-week academy.[7] The SJPD CSO is a civilian position; CSOs thus do not carry firearms and do not perform any enforcement duties.[7] Their tasks are limited to response to lower priority calls, which shall give sworn police officers more time to respond to high risk calls.[7]

Uniform and equipment

Uniform

The uniform of the department consists of a dark navy blue shirt for sworn officers, and a light blue or white shirt for differing civilian classifications. On the left side of the chest is worn the departmental badge, or a patch replica on certain items. The badge of a sworn police officer is a silver seven-point star reading "San Jose Police", the officer's rank, and badge number. Gold-colored badges are issued to higher ranking police officers. Civilian staff are issued eagle-top or oval shaped shields depending on classification. The San Jose Police Department patch is worn on both sleeves, with a rocker denoting classification for civilian staff. Pants are regular navy blue uniform trousers with white piping running down the side of the leg.

Weapons and equipment

The San Jose Police Departments officers normally carry tasers. The standard taser for the department is the TASER(R) X26P(TM) Smart Weapon.[8] Officers are issued OC Spray, handcuffs, a baton, flashlight plus a handgun and two spare magazines. The standard issue semi-automatic handgun is a Glock. (Before 2013, it was from SIG Sauer). Squad cars are normally armed with shotguns and officers are allowed to purchase patrol rifles, with individual permission of the chief and a four-day training course. The officers own these weapons and can use them for personal use as well as departmental.[9]

In mid-2014, the department returned a mine-resistant military vehicle to the federal government.[10]

Department Chain of Command (Office of the Chief of Police)

Source:[11]

  • Chief of Police Edgardo (Eddie) Garcia
  • Assistant Chief of Police Dave Knopf
  • Deputy Chief Anthony Mata, Bureau of Field Operations
  • Deputy Chief Mark Bustillos, Bureau of Administration
  • Deputy Chief Michael Knox, Executive Officer
  • Deputy Chief Shawny Williams, Bureau of Investigations
  • Deputy Director Judi Torrico, Bureau of Technical Services

Police divisions

  • Foothill Division[12]
  • Western Division[13]
  • Southern Division[14]
  • Central Division[15]

Controversy

In July 2003, Cau Bich Tran was shot and killed in her kitchen by a SJPD officer after brandishing a 10-inch vegetable peeler that resembled a meat cleaver. After threatening her family with the implement she was shot. The incident led to controversy among San Jose's Vietnamese community. In 2005, the city of San Jose settled the Tran family's lawsuit for $1.8 million.[16]

The week before Halloween 2011, a 27-year-old highly intoxicated man armed with a gun (later determined to be a toy gun) was shot over 20 times by four SJPD officers and wounded after he refused to follow officers commands and grabbed the gun. He was dressed as a surgeon and had a toy gun in his waistband. In 2013, the city settled a lawsuit for $4.95 million, the largest settlement in San Jose involving police conduct. There was never any controversy regarding this event.[17]

In 2014, the department had been found to be using high tech cellphone spying systems, commonly referred to as "Stingrays." These devices act like a regular cell phone tower, causing all cell phones in the nearby vicinity to connect to it rather than the real cell site. This gives the user of a Stingray the ability to intercept the conversations and data exchanges of all nearby cellular phone users. It was shown that the federal government gave the department a $500,000 grant for the technology. The SJPD spokesperson refused to comment on the situation.[18]

In March 2014, Officer Geoffrey Graves was accused of raping a woman. He turned himself into Santa Clara County Jail and was arraigned on March 24.[19]

In December 2014, SJPD officer Phillip White made statements on Twitter that he would kill people who would threaten him and his family and that he would be carrying a gun while off duty at movie theaters, in response to protests of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. White was subsequently placed on administrative leave. The San Jose Police Association have condemned the comments.[20] In January 2015, prosecutors declined to file charges against White.[21]

Ranks

Rank Insignia
Chief
Assistant Chief
Deputy Chief
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Officer N/A

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the San Jose Police Department, 13 officers have died while on duty.[22]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 San Jose Police Department, Reserve Unit - History, Official website of the San Jose Police Department, access date: 17 May 2018.
  2. ↑ San Jose Police Department, Reserve Police Applicants, Official website of the San Jose Police Department, access date: 17 May 2018.
  3. ↑ San Jose Police Department, Reserve Unit – Training, Official website of the San Jose Police Department, access date: 17 May 2018.
  4. ↑ "History of the San Jose Police Department". YouTube. 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  5. ↑ "Crime Reports : Map". Crimereports.com. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  6. ↑ "Crime Reports : Map". Crimereports.com. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  7. 1 2 3 San Jose Police Department, Community Service Officer Program (CSO), Official website of the San Jose Police Department, access date: 13 May 2018.
  8. ↑ "San Jose Police Department Upgrades 590 TASER X26P Smart Weapons - Yahoo Finance". Finance.yahoo.com. 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  9. ↑ "Should Calif. Cops Turn In Assault Weapons They Own At Retirement? « CBS San Francisco". Sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com. 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  10. ↑ an Jose Police to Return Military-Grade Armored Vehicle By Jennifer Wadsworth, 29 August 2014, San Jose Inside
  11. ↑ "Department Information". Sjpd.org. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  12. ↑ "Foothill Division". Sjpd.org. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  13. ↑ "Western Division". Sjpd.org. 2014-11-12. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  14. ↑ "Southern Division". Sjpd.org. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  15. ↑ "Central Division". Sjpd.org. 2015-06-15. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  16. ↑ "SAN JOSE / $1.8 million settlement in killing by police officer / 4-foot-9-inch troubled mother fatally shot in kitchen while holding a vegetable peeler". SFGate. 2005-12-01. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  17. ↑ "San Jose to pay nearly $5 million for shooting man with toy gun - San Jose Mercury News". Mercurynews.com. 2011-10-23. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  18. ↑ Wadsworth, Jennifer (2014-03-20). "SJPD Bought Controversial Cellphone Spying Technology". San Jose Inside. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  19. ↑ "San Jose police officer charged with rape - San Jose Mercury News". Mercurynews.com. 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  20. ↑ San Jose cop suspended for Twitter threat to protesters, CBC News, December 16, 2014.
  21. ↑ "SJPD officer wont face charges for controversial tweets". abc7news.com. 2015-01-08. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  22. ↑ "San Jose Police Department, California, Fallen Officers". Odmp.org. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
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