San Jose independent police auditor to retire

San Jose’s independent police auditor is planning to retire, city officials said.

Shivaun Nurre, who has been in the auditor role since 2018, has worked in the auditor’s office since 2006. Word that she plans to retire comes about a week after she published her annual report on police oversight in the city.

During a special closed session meeting of the San Jose City Council hastily scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, City Attorney Nora Frimann announced that Nurre planned to retire.

“We had a request from the independent police auditor, who has indicated that she was planning to retire, and she has requested to take a leave for a period of time, and council has approved the leave as she finishes up her paperwork for her retirement,” Frimann said. “That was the purpose for the closed session.”

Nurre was unable to be reached for comment.

It’s unclear when she will retire. Her office recently issued its annual report, and Nurre was scheduled to present it to the council earlier this week, but officials voted to defer the presentation to a future meeting.

The wide-ranging report noted that one in three of San Jose’s police officers faced at least one complaint in 2022, the third straight year complaints have risen against SJPD officers.

It also called out a practice by the department of categorizing instances where officers point guns at people as a procedure issue, instead of as a use of force.

Nurre was appointed to the position by the San Jose City Council in December 2018, replacing former auditor Aaron Zisser, who resigned in August 2018 after less than a year on the job. In her time at the office, Nurre served as the interim auditor four times before taking on the role permanently.

Zisser quit after the San Jose Police Officers’ Association put pressure on him to step down following several incidents that caused tension between him and the union.

Zisser said Wednesday Nurre built a lot of credibility in San Jose, but because of his abrupt departure and a need to appoint Nurre quickly, there wasn’t a significant public engagement process as there was for his hiring.

“The independent police auditor needs to have the trust of impacted communities, needs to be someone that the community feels like has their interests at heart, and has heard from them,” Zisser told San José Spotlight.

He said representatives from the community, advocates, police, city council and other critical groups should be included from the start as officials weigh appointing a new auditor.

“This should not be done behind closed doors, with just high level administrators who are not representative of the broad diversity of the San Jose community,” Zisser said. “Certainly while (Nurre’s retirement) is a loss of institutional knowledge and experience, it’s an opportunity to bring someone in through a rigorous process.”

Contact Joseph Geha at [email protected] or @josephgeha16 on Twitter.