If you are a resident of San Jose California, you might know about the scandal involving some controversial tweets by San Jose police officer Phil White in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. Many activists and City officials interpret the tweets as threatening and perhaps racist. Officer White was fired from the police department after an uproar by several community members last July. Recently, Officer White was reinstated as a result of arbitration. Of course, many in the local media have covered this matter. However, my post refers to two recent articles by a local Metro newspaper, San Jose Inside (SJI). Here are the links for the two articles so you can judge the matter for youself:
http://www.sanjoseinside.com/2016/02/26/sjpds-white-privilege-problem/
http://www.sanjoseinside.com/2016/03/08/activists-urge-council-to-appeal-officer-whites-reinstatement/
The purpose of this post is to address the hypocrisy of San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and San Jose Inside. They have been quick to condemn Officer White for his tweets. They supported Officer White's firing, and they oppose his reinstatement. Yet, for the past five plus years, Mayor Liccardo and the San Jose City Council have refused to initiate an investigation into my discrimination complaints against the San Jose City Attorney's Office. SJI has refused to do a story on my case, even though I presented them with indisputable evidence of criminal misconduct by San Jose city officials and the federal courts. Here is a comment I posted in reply to SJI's article regarding Officer White's reinstatement. My comment was posted briefly but was removed. So far, I can't re-post it. Therefore, I am posting it here:
Comment:
Mayor Liccardo coming out against Officer Phil White
getting his job back is no surprise. It was predictable. All of this phony
concern about White’s tweets is laughable. This is political grandstanding at
its worst, apparently an attempt to show that the City does not tolerate bias
and racism. Which is not true. Mayor Liccardo and the City Council have a lot more to worry about
than those tweets by Officer White. They have their own issues with
discrimination, as well as, public corruption. The NAACP and other community
activists have every right to be critical of White’s tweets. But, it they are
serious about issues related to discrimination against blacks/African
Americans, I suggest that they ask the Mayor and City Council to respond
publicly to the lawsuits I filed against the City for discrimination related to
my disability retirement from the police department. There has been a criminal cover-up of this
matter by the Mayor and other top city officials, with help from the federal
courts. It is quite clear that the City has a double standard when it comes to
enforcing its policies relating to discrimination and the City’s Code of Ethics.
Rank and file police officers are held to a higher standard than top city
officials. Over the last five years, I filed numerous complaints with the top city
officials against the San Jose City Attorney’s Office and three former police
administrators for discrimination and criminal misconduct relative to a lawsuit
I filed against the City. Not a single one of my complaints have been
investigated, as is mandated by city policy. This scandal with the tweets by
Officer White pales in comparison with the Bull Connor like manner in which I have been
treated by Mayor Liccardo, the City Council and several other City officials. The
mistreatment I endured was a flagrant violation of my constitutional rights,
and was nothing more than a high-tech lynching. SJI and the rest of the local
media lap dogs for the City should be ashamed for not reporting my story. Apparently
they are okay with City officials discriminating against a black police
officer. But any opportunity to disingenuously portray a police officer as
being a racist or violating a person’s rights, they are all over it. So who is
more unfit for their job, Officer White or Mayor Liccardo and the City Council?
If you want to read about a real scandal, check out the following links: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624131267713226/
A new lawsuit I recently filed against
Mayor Liccardo, the City Council and the City of San Jose in US District Court
has not yet been included in the above links. The case number is
15-cv-5729-EJD. You can look it up in PACER.
Fred Bates – retired sergeant, SJPD
