A man who lost his eye after being shot with a hard projectile by San Jose police during protests following the 2020 killing of George Floyd is set to receive millions in a city settlement. The $3 million payout would settle Michael Acosta’s 2021 federal lawsuit alleging San Jose Police Department officers violated his civil rights....
UPDATE: San Jose offers to reevaluate police reforms
San Jose leaders are reopening talks on the status of hundreds of proposed police reforms to ensure they are swiftly addressed and true to their original intent. The goal is to broker a meeting between city officials and advocates pushing to modernize policing in San Jose in the next month, said Peter Hamilton, an assistant...
San Jose is failing on promise to add more police officers
San Jose is off to a slow start staffing up the police department since Mayor Matt Mahan took office in January. Filling dozens of empty vacancies at the San Jose Police Department has been a long term goal for Mahan dating back to his time on the campaign trail. But so far it’s been an uphill...
San Jose chooses new interim police watchdog
San Jose leaders have chosen a new acting independent police auditor. The San Jose City Council unanimously voted in closed session Tuesday to appoint Karyn Sinunu-Towery, a former 30-year Santa Clara County prosecutor, to helm the oversight role while a search for the next permanent auditor is underway. The city announced earlier this month that...
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...
San Jose police say pointing a gun isn’t use of force
When a police officer points a gun at a person, it can be terrifying, induce trauma and anxiety and can quickly escalate a situation. Police watchdogs and community advocates say when a San Jose Police Department officer points a gun at someone, it should be recorded as use of force. But since summer of last year, SJPD’s internal affairs...
San Jose police complaints up three years in a row
In the years since George Floyd’s murder, San Jose has aimed to reform its police department, yet the number of complaints against officers has increased for the third year running, according to a new report. One out of every three of San Jose’s nearly 1,100 police officers received some type of complaint in 2022, a...
San Jose police fail to fill vacant racial equity role
The San Jose Police Department has not hired a senior analyst to advance its racial equity goals, despite holding the position open for nearly five months. The role was created last year to help the police force advance its relationships with communities of color by analyzing use of force and traffic stop data, getting more...
San Jose calls for more police amid staffing shortages
San Jose is planning on funding 31 new positions in the police department despite struggling to fill more than 100 existing vacancies. The city manager proposed last week spending $2.9 million in the next fiscal year to create 31 new staff positions within San Jose Police Department, ranging from regular beat cops and community service...
San Jose advocates demand stronger police oversight
On the heels of a tumultuous year for San Jose police, advocates are renewing calls to give the city’s independent police watchdog more power. More than two dozen people gathered outside San Jose City Hall this week to demand the independent police auditor (IPA) have full independent investigatory powers over the San Jose Police Department. Organizers...