Police Reform Back On The Agenda For San Jose City Council

From San Jose Spotlight:

by Carly Wipf
September 29, 2020

A new police reform timeline coming before San Jose City Council aims to help city leaders march forward to address the slew of issues facing the police department, including hiring a new police chief, addressing use-of-force complaints and increasing transparency.

City officials say getting the public involved is at the heart of the timeline, being reviewed Sept. 29, and involves hiring a consultant to work directly with residents to learn how to handle police use of force.

But those calling for change want to know why the City Council doesn’t already know what people want.

Raj Jayadev, president of Silicon Valley De-Bug, said the efforts to reach out to the community and acknowledge their voices are “too little, too late.”

“It’s just terribly ironic to me that they spend money on consultants as if it’s this really incredible puzzle to figure out how to get community engagement on an issue when the community has been yelling what they want, louder than I think I’ve ever heard,” Jayadev said. “And they didn’t respond to it.”

Jayadev said the city has been sidestepping public calls to defund the police and reallocate money to support other emergency response programs.

“As emotionally charged as this community process is expected to be, it will be crucial that we create the space to hear and learn from those representing all sides of the issues,” wrote City Manager David Sykes and Independent Police Auditor (IPA) Shivaun Nurre in a memo. “It will be imperative that we capture the range of community and police voices as both share a strong desire for procedural justice and community safety.”

The consultant will help the city create virtual meetings, polls, focus groups and text platforms for residents to share opinions. Engagement with faith leaders, social justice advocates, youth groups, the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force, underrepresented communities of color and others is expected to begin in January, according to the auditor.

The city will give grants to certain groups that can help engage with residents.

The auditor will also work with the city manager to hire a consultant to evaluate the culture and training related to the police department’s current use of force and will seek to improve investigation processes and department policies. A report of the findings will be released in Spring 2021.

“In addition, it is important to acknowledge the hundreds of public comments related to policing expressed verbally and in writing at various City Council meetings since June 2020,” Sykes and Nurre said. “The administration and the IPA will also consider these comments as we move forward with our police reform efforts.”

The city has completed around a quarter of its 20 goals outlined in a police reform work plan by making changes to the rules that govern officers, releasing body cam videos and approving a measure for the November ballot asking voters to give authority to the independent police auditor to review use-of-force investigations.

In 2019, 188 conduct complaints were filed against San Jose officers, according to a recent IPA Report.

“Our police department has made tremendous efforts over the past few years to modernize and make improvements to their policies and practices,” Sykes and Shivaun wrote, “But, as they acknowledge, there continues to be much more work to do.”

San Jose could get a new police chief as soon as January — just in time to be included in the community conversation about reforming the police department, according to the timeline.

The City Council meets 1:30 p.m. Sept. 29. To watch, visit the San Jose YouTube page. All police items are expected to be discussed after 4 p.m.

Contact Carly Wipf at carly@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @CarlyChristineW on Twitter.

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