On January 13, 2017, the San Jose Inside (SJI), a local San Jose newspaper, published an article regarding San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and the San Jose City Council's committment to provide more oversight of the City's police department. I responded to the article with two comments criticizing the Mayor and City Council for calling for more oversight of the police while they are engaged in a criminal cover-up of cheating by retired federal district judge Ronald M. Whyte and the San Jose City Attoreny's Office during the litigation of two lawsuits I filed against the City. My two comments were initially posted by SJI then later removed for unspecified reasons. It is clear SJI is providing cover for the Mayor and City Council by removing my comments an refusing to report on the cheating scandal that I am exposing with this blog. Below is a copy of the article by SJI dated January 14, 2017 that include my comments appearing under my name (Fred Bates) as comments #2 and 5:
Saturday, January 14, 2017
A look inside San Jose politics and
culture
San Jose Inside is made possible
through support by:
San Jose Mayor Commits to Expanding Police Oversight
SJPD Chief Eddie Garcia discusses
systemic racism at a community forum Thursday.
San Jose’s mayor and some council
members said they want greater oversight of local law enforcement and would
support a ballot measure to expand the role of the city’s independent police watchdog.
Before a packed auditorium at Bible
Way Christian Center Thursday night, Mayor Sam Liccardo said he supports
placing such a voter initiative on the 2018 ballot.
“Back when the charter was amended,
establishing our office in 1996, I think the IPA’s model was really the
standard,” Independent Police Auditor Walter Katz told San Jose Inside. “But
it’s been 20 years since then, and I think there’s some voices in the community
that say it’s time to reconsider.”
Along with City Council members
Magdalena Carrasco and Raul Peralez, the mayor and police Chief Eddie Garcia
also promised to release public reports on use-of-force incidents, a practice
that was discontinued in 2006.
“I know that one of the holdups
right now has been the technology itself,” said Peralez, a former San Jose
police officer. But, he added, “This is information that absolutely needs to be
shared with the community.”
The commitments came at the end of a
forum on how to mend the relationship between police and civilians whose faith
in law enforcement is badly shaken. Hosted by People Acting in Community
Together (PACT), the event drew roughly 300 attendees and a host of
high-ranking law enforcement and elected officials.
Garcia opened the discussion by
talking about how bias in law enforcement is an extension of entrenched
structural racism.
“The reality is that we’re caught up
in this wheel of the justice system, but the justice system starts well before that
… [in our] child welfare system, our schools,” he said.
The department is trying to
improve its internal oversight, the chief added. Part of that includes training
officers on how to recognize their own biases. Garcia also apologized for
any offense caused by a video released in November by the local police union.
The minute-long clip released by the San Jose Police Officers’ Association
highlighted the uptick in officer killings ended with declarations that “All
Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter,” slogans created to protest the Black
Lives Matter movement.
“We’re not perfect,” Garcia said.
“We will have bumps along the road, but in the end we need you to know that we
are here for you.”
Speaking to issues of accountability
at the regional level, Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian said he wants
to install independent oversight of the jails and Sheriff’s Office, too. In the
aftermath of Michael Brown’s killing at the hands of a police officer in
Ferguson, Missouri, the supervisor pushed for a slate of accountability
measures to prevent similar tragedies. Some of those changes include training
sheriff’s deputies to recognize implicit bias and wear cameras to record their
interactions in the line of duty.
In 2015, the fatal beating of
Michael Tyree, a mentally ill inmate at San Jose’s Main Jail, brought
greater urgency to those reform efforts and exposed alarming systemic
dysfunction in county jails.
Dep. Roger Winslow, head of the
union that represents sheriff’s deputies, agreed with Simitian that the
Sheriff’s Office needs independent oversight of enforcement, administration and
custody. His counterpart at the jail guard union, however, thought otherwise.
Lt. Amy Le, president of the Correctional Peace Officers’ Association, said
she’s against independent review of internal and external department
complaints.
“I’m sorry,” Le said. “At this
time, I cannot support that decision.”
Newly installed cameras capture
events inside the jails, she added, and officers document every incident as
they occur. That, in her and the union’s opinion, is enough.
“Give us a chance for transparency,”
Le said. “The use-of-force system is changing. We are documenting
everything.”
Between Garcia’s initial remarks and
public declarations from other officials, the audience split into smaller
groups, each assigned an officer who volunteered to hear them out. Elvira
Obregon, a social worker and local activist, asked one officer to explain why
so many viral videos show police escalating tensions to the point of violence.
“A lot of times in these videos, the
situation doesn’t call for that level of force,” Obregon said. “We hear all
this talk of de-escalation, but that’s not what’s we’re seeing.”
Officer Jose Montoya, a 17-year SJPD
veteran, told her that he can’t speak for other agencies but stressed that
those videos often tell just a fraction of the story.
“When police arrive, it’s because
there’s a problem,”Montoya said. “It’s because there’s contact, somebody’s
in crisis, somebody needs help or somebody broke the law.”
“You must admit that there’s some
rotten apples in the bunch,” Obregon replied.
“Yes,” Montoya agreed, “as there is
in any profession.”
“Would you be brave enough to call
them out?” she asked.
“I would,” he said.
Officer Jose Montoya (center)
listens as Carmen Johnson (right) talks about a negative interaction she had
with a San Jose police officer.
This article has been updated.
Jennifer Wadsworth is a staff writer
for San Jose Inside and Metro Newspaper. Email tips to jenniferw@metronews.com or follow her on Twitter at @jennwadsworth.
Filed
Under:
- News
- Amy Le
- Black Lives Matter
- Board of Supervisors
- Correctional Peace Officers Association
- Eddie Garcia
- Elvira Obregon
- Independent Police Auditor
- Joe Simitian
- Jose Montoya
- Laurie Smith
- Magdalena Carrasco
- Main Jail
- Michael Tyree
- People Acting in Community Together
- Police Officers' Association
- Raul Peralez
- Roger Winslow
- Sam Liccardo
- San Jose Police Department
3
Comments
Nonsense,
you still have a useless individual getting $150,000 + for a rubber stamp. The
City only wants to have control over cover ups and Civil Suit payouts.
Your
comment is awaiting moderation.
Here we go
again. The Mayor and City Council calling for more oversight of the police
while they are engaged in one of the biggest cover-ups in recent memory of
their own bigoted and malicious acts against me. The racists and bigots calling
for more oversight of the police out of some clearly phony concern about
racism. Go figure. I have posted comments here before.about this scandal.
However, SJI refused to post my comments the last time I tried. Jennifer and
Josh you ought to be ashamed. This from you freedom of speech and press loving
journalsits. At least let the public know about the very real lawsuits I filed
against the City that has cost taxpayers thousands fo dollars. My warning to
the Mayor and City Council. This scandal will not go away and it will one day
be exposed big time. Just watch and see. See these links for more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624131267713226/
http://www.opnlttr.com/letter/open-letter-san-jose-mayor-sam-licardo-and-city-council
http://crnctz.blogspot.com/2015/08/exposing-cover-up-of-cheating-scandal.html
http://www.opnlttr.com/letter/open-letter-san-jose-mayor-sam-licardo-and-city-council
http://crnctz.blogspot.com/2015/08/exposing-cover-up-of-cheating-scandal.html
Empty
Gun Jan 13, 2017 @ 10:32 pm
We could
solve all this nonsense if we just fast forward to firing all the white men and
hiring nothing but brown women,
then everything will be just peachy
then everything will be just peachy
Haven’t
heard anything from the San Jose Police Officers Association? Time to step up.
Your
comment is awaiting moderation.
SJI pushes
false narratives just like much of the media. We need more oversight of SJPD
like I need a hole in my head. It is the corrupt Mayor and City Council that
needs more oversight because of their criminal misconduct involving the
cover-up of cheating by retired federal district judge Ronald M. Whtye and the
City Attorney’s Office during the litigation of my two lawsuits. Their
misconduct is based on real bigotry and racism, and not some phony notion. But
don’t take my word for it. Ask the Mayor and City Council if I am lying and
just being malicious. Ask them what happened to the two attorneys for the City
that suddenly disappeared from my case and why Judge Whyte suddenly retired. If
am lying, I would hope to be held accountable with civil and criminal
sanctions. I know Jennifer wrote this article, but this is for Josh. The City
has a “Whyte” privilege problem and not a “White” privilege problem. Since I’m
black, I can’t wait to see what phony celebration the City will have for MLK
day. See the links listed in my comment above for details about the cheating
scandal.
Leave
a Reply
________________________________________________________________________________
Below is a copy of the latest version of the same article by SJI dated January 16, 2017 that clearly shows that my comments criticizing the Mayor and City Council have been removed. It is clear SJI has no journalistic integrity because my comments were removed with the intent to hide the bigoted and criminal misconduct of the corrupt Mayor and City Council. SJI has no commitment to freedom of speech and expression:
Monday, January 16, 2017
A look inside San Jose politics and culture
San Jose Inside is made possible through support by:
News
San Jose Mayor Commits to Expanding Police Oversight
/ 8
SJPD Chief Eddie Garcia discusses systemic racism at a community forum Thursday.
San Jose’s mayor and some council members said they want greater
oversight of local law enforcement and would support a ballot measure to
expand the role of the city’s independent police watchdog.
Before a packed auditorium at Bible Way Christian Center Thursday night, Mayor Sam Liccardo said he supports placing such a voter initiative on the 2018 ballot.
“Back when the charter was amended, establishing our office in 1996, I think the IPA’s model was really the standard,” Independent Police Auditor Walter Katz told San Jose Inside. “But it’s been 20 years since then, and I think there’s some voices in the community that say it’s time to reconsider.”
Along with City Council members Magdalena Carrasco and Raul Peralez, the mayor and police Chief Eddie Garcia also promised to release public reports on use-of-force incidents, a practice that was discontinued in 2006.
“I know that one of the holdups right now has been the technology itself,” said Peralez, a former San Jose police officer. But, he added, “This is information that absolutely needs to be shared with the community.”
The commitments came at the end of a forum on how to mend the relationship between police and civilians whose faith in law enforcement is badly shaken. Hosted by People Acting in Community Together (PACT), the event drew roughly 300 attendees and a host of high-ranking law enforcement and elected officials.
Garcia opened the discussion by talking about how bias in law enforcement is an extension of entrenched structural racism.
“The reality is that we’re caught up in this wheel of the justice system, but the justice system starts well before that … [in our] child welfare system, our schools,” he said.
The department is trying to improve its internal oversight, the chief added. Part of that includes training officers on how to recognize their own biases. Garcia also apologized for any offense caused by a video released in November by the local police union. The minute-long clip released by the San Jose Police Officers’ Association highlighted the uptick in officer killings ended with declarations that “All Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter,” slogans created to protest the Black Lives Matter movement.
“We’re not perfect,” Garcia said. “We will have bumps along the road, but in the end we need you to know that we are here for you.”
Speaking to issues of accountability at the regional level, Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian said he wants to install independent oversight of the jails and Sheriff’s Office, too. In the aftermath of Michael Brown’s killing at the hands of a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, the supervisor pushed for a slate of accountability measures to prevent similar tragedies. Some of those changes include training sheriff’s deputies to recognize implicit bias and wear cameras to record their interactions in the line of duty.
In 2015, the fatal beating of Michael Tyree, a mentally ill inmate at San Jose’s Main Jail, brought greater urgency to those reform efforts and exposed alarming systemic dysfunction in county jails.
Dep. Roger Winslow, head of the union that represents sheriff’s deputies, agreed with Simitian that the Sheriff’s Office needs independent oversight of enforcement, administration and custody. His counterpart at the jail guard union, however, thought otherwise. Lt. Amy Le, president of the Correctional Peace Officers’ Association, said she’s against independent review of internal and external department complaints.
“I’m sorry,” Le said. “At this time, I cannot support that decision.”
Newly installed cameras capture events inside the jails, she added, and officers document every incident as they occur. That, in her and the union’s opinion, is enough.
“Give us a chance for transparency,” Le said. “The use-of-force system is changing. We are documenting everything.”
Between Garcia’s initial remarks and public declarations from other officials, the audience split into smaller groups, each assigned an officer who volunteered to hear them out. Elvira Obregon, a social worker and local activist, asked one officer to explain why so many viral videos show police escalating tensions to the point of violence.
“A lot of times in these videos, the situation doesn’t call for that level of force,” Obregon said. “We hear all this talk of de-escalation, but that’s not what’s we’re seeing.”
Officer Jose Montoya, a 17-year SJPD veteran, told her that he can’t speak for other agencies but stressed that those videos often tell just a fraction of the story.
“When police arrive, it’s because there’s a problem,”Montoya said. “It’s because there’s contact, somebody’s in crisis, somebody needs help or somebody broke the law.”
“You must admit that there’s some rotten apples in the bunch,” Obregon replied.
“Yes,” Montoya agreed, “as there is in any profession.”
“Would you be brave enough to call them out?” she asked.
“I would,” he said.
This article has been updated.
Before a packed auditorium at Bible Way Christian Center Thursday night, Mayor Sam Liccardo said he supports placing such a voter initiative on the 2018 ballot.
“Back when the charter was amended, establishing our office in 1996, I think the IPA’s model was really the standard,” Independent Police Auditor Walter Katz told San Jose Inside. “But it’s been 20 years since then, and I think there’s some voices in the community that say it’s time to reconsider.”
Along with City Council members Magdalena Carrasco and Raul Peralez, the mayor and police Chief Eddie Garcia also promised to release public reports on use-of-force incidents, a practice that was discontinued in 2006.
“I know that one of the holdups right now has been the technology itself,” said Peralez, a former San Jose police officer. But, he added, “This is information that absolutely needs to be shared with the community.”
The commitments came at the end of a forum on how to mend the relationship between police and civilians whose faith in law enforcement is badly shaken. Hosted by People Acting in Community Together (PACT), the event drew roughly 300 attendees and a host of high-ranking law enforcement and elected officials.
Garcia opened the discussion by talking about how bias in law enforcement is an extension of entrenched structural racism.
“The reality is that we’re caught up in this wheel of the justice system, but the justice system starts well before that … [in our] child welfare system, our schools,” he said.
The department is trying to improve its internal oversight, the chief added. Part of that includes training officers on how to recognize their own biases. Garcia also apologized for any offense caused by a video released in November by the local police union. The minute-long clip released by the San Jose Police Officers’ Association highlighted the uptick in officer killings ended with declarations that “All Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter,” slogans created to protest the Black Lives Matter movement.
“We’re not perfect,” Garcia said. “We will have bumps along the road, but in the end we need you to know that we are here for you.”
Speaking to issues of accountability at the regional level, Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian said he wants to install independent oversight of the jails and Sheriff’s Office, too. In the aftermath of Michael Brown’s killing at the hands of a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, the supervisor pushed for a slate of accountability measures to prevent similar tragedies. Some of those changes include training sheriff’s deputies to recognize implicit bias and wear cameras to record their interactions in the line of duty.
In 2015, the fatal beating of Michael Tyree, a mentally ill inmate at San Jose’s Main Jail, brought greater urgency to those reform efforts and exposed alarming systemic dysfunction in county jails.
Dep. Roger Winslow, head of the union that represents sheriff’s deputies, agreed with Simitian that the Sheriff’s Office needs independent oversight of enforcement, administration and custody. His counterpart at the jail guard union, however, thought otherwise. Lt. Amy Le, president of the Correctional Peace Officers’ Association, said she’s against independent review of internal and external department complaints.
“I’m sorry,” Le said. “At this time, I cannot support that decision.”
Newly installed cameras capture events inside the jails, she added, and officers document every incident as they occur. That, in her and the union’s opinion, is enough.
“Give us a chance for transparency,” Le said. “The use-of-force system is changing. We are documenting everything.”
Between Garcia’s initial remarks and public declarations from other officials, the audience split into smaller groups, each assigned an officer who volunteered to hear them out. Elvira Obregon, a social worker and local activist, asked one officer to explain why so many viral videos show police escalating tensions to the point of violence.
“A lot of times in these videos, the situation doesn’t call for that level of force,” Obregon said. “We hear all this talk of de-escalation, but that’s not what’s we’re seeing.”
Officer Jose Montoya, a 17-year SJPD veteran, told her that he can’t speak for other agencies but stressed that those videos often tell just a fraction of the story.
“When police arrive, it’s because there’s a problem,”Montoya said. “It’s because there’s contact, somebody’s in crisis, somebody needs help or somebody broke the law.”
“You must admit that there’s some rotten apples in the bunch,” Obregon replied.
“Yes,” Montoya agreed, “as there is in any profession.”
“Would you be brave enough to call them out?” she asked.
“I would,” he said.
Officer
Jose Montoya (center) listens as Carmen Johnson (right) talks about a
negative interaction she had with a San Jose police officer.
then everything will be just peachy
Just remove the word ‘oversight’, and we’ll be good to go…
In my opinion, this is just more voter pandering by the mayor.
FUN FACTS:
2014-2015 SJPD received 564,528 911 calls and made 100,579 field events (i.e. traffic stops). With all those citizen contacts the IPA and SJPD received 303 complaints. In percentage, that is .00045%. Of those 303 complaints citizens (and criminals) didn’t like the way they were talked to and didn’t think they should have been arrested at all.
In 2015 the IPA budget for six people was $1,249,223.
The IPA makes at least $178,000 a year.
The IPA went to 172 IPA presentation, community events, meet and greets
Once Cordell left the IPA position IPA complaints dropped from 51% to 39%
SJPD made 55,000 less field events (i.e. car stops) then 2010-2011 year.
complaints all together by removing three of the remaining IPA members. That being said we we will no longer be needing an IPA and can thereby shut it down saving the city a total of $1,249,223 per year.
This would make funds avalible to hire 8.328 more badly needed cops of any color.
There, that was fun and I’ve solved another one of our problems!
Five more days till Trump is President, are you all still here?
Many departments use surveys and realize benefits. It’s inexpensive, provides an early warning system (IPA and Internal Affairs do not), provides benchmarks against other PDs, and pinpoints what’s working and what’s not.
Unlike the SJ Auditor or the Civil Grand Jury, IPA’s self-identified mission is to find fault – but not exemplary performance. Customer satisfaction surveys do both.
The SJ residents survey shows perception of safety has declined by about about 50% since 2011. See page 19 of Auditor’s 2015-2016 report http://www.sanjoseca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/63203
Most metrics have steadily and precipitously declined. ‘Would You Recommend Living in SJ’ has declined from 80% in 2011 to 51% in the last survey period.
Mayor Liccardo’s priorities are misguided.