SJPD

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...

Despite an increase in cash and staff, San Jose police are taking longer to respond to calls. The San Jose Police Department this year has 30 more street-ready officers and nearly $20 million more in its budget compared to last year. It still failed to respond to emergencies on time. When San Joseans call for...

Santa Clara County Sheriff Sgt. Sean Allen has witnessed the results of about 200 police dog bites at the Main Jail infirmary in San Jose. Over more than two decades, he’s seen exposed and shattered bones, skin torn off faces and chunks of flesh ripped from limbs. “The dogs inflict damage similar to what you’d...

San Jose is moving forward with tentative plans to expand the city’s police oversight powers, despite claims by the police union that the changes may violate the city charter. In a unanimous vote, the San Jose City Council agreed Tuesday to accept Mayor Sam Liccardo’s call to add an investigative branch to the Independent Police...

San Jose is hoping to make it easier for the public to unearth police misconduct records. The city launched a new web portal Friday where closed misconduct case information from the city’s independent police auditor can be viewed and downloaded. It does not include records from the police department such as body-worn camera footage or...

Cindy Chavez was standing outside her apartment complex last week when a Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputy approached her clutching paperwork. She was being served a restraining order, the deputy explained, to protect the officer who killed her son. Chavez is not related to Supervisor Cindy Chavez, a San Jose mayoral candidate. The temporary restraining...

The San Jose Police Department is updating how it reviews its use of body cameras, but changes are not as extensive as some hoped. The San Jose City Council unanimously approved a new audit policy on Tuesday, which calls for the hiring of a senior analyst to monitor if police officers are correctly using body...

Nearly a third of San Jose police officers received complaints in 2021, concerning advocates who say the numbers show the wide swath of reform efforts happening in the city aren’t working. The number of complaints increased nearly 25% over 2020, when San Jose saw significant upheaval in response to the police killing of George Floyd,...