* Letter to San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed Regarding Police Cuts

Published by Junior Staff Writer on January 19, 2011

Last year in San Jose there were 20 homicides over the course of the entire year. So far in 2011 there have been 5 and the year is barely over a week old. Put another way, with just over 2% of 2011 gone by there have already been 25% as many homicides as in all of 2010.

On just this past Saturday, San Jose experienced a triple homicide, a fatal hit-and-run, two robberies and multiple separate stabbings. Due to staffing cuts, while the City was descending into mayhem in Sunday’s early morning hours there were no more than 3 officers available to respond to such incidents in this city of nearly 1 million.

Despite these realities, Mayor Chuck Reed is broadly expected to push for further dramatic staffing cuts at the police department this year.

Other mayors in the state have their budgetary priorities straight.

Last week, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa voiced his intention to maintain the LAPD at its current levels though LA is also facing a budget crisis. Villaraigosa explained his decision in part by attributing LA’s low crime rate and reduced number of homicides to the size of the city’s police department. The Mayor also stressed that in LA focusing on public safety is priority one. LAPD’s Chief Charlie Beck echoed this sentiment saying, “public safety is the cornerstone of government. If this is not a safe city, then this is not a city that can deliver services or support human growth.”

Meanwhile, here in San Jose, our mayor has indicated that he will not reduce other city services so that San Jose can maintain its already woefully insufficient police staffing levels. How can two mayors of two major US cities have such a dramatically different perspective? Even mayors closer to home seem to think different than Reed. Last year Campbell’s then-mayor and current council member, Evan Low, was able to achieve pension reforms by working with his police officers rather than demonizing them before the public and forcing through highly divisive ballot measures.

Like some critics in LA, Mayor Reed points to a large budget deficit and high employee costs as the reasons he wants to impose dramatic staffing reductions at the police department this year. These issues easily gain the attention of a listening public suffering from the effects of the worst economic downturn in most of our lifetimes. Unfortunately, Reed fails to listen himself. While all the services the City provides are valued, public safety is the public’s number one priority as shown by numerous opinion surveys. A city’s budget is a statement of the values of its community; I do not believe the Mayor’s stated intentions for this year’s budget reflect the values of San Jose’s residents.

While preparations are being made to fulfill the Mayor’s budget plan, it is not too late to turn around the Titanic. The impacts of drastically reducing the size of the police department to our citizens’ lives will be far more significant than those caused by cuts to other areas. The closing of a public pool or the reduction of library hours hurts you much less than, for example, not have detectives available to investigate the burglary of your house. Instances of violent crime have been relatively low in San Jose, but they will undoubtedly go up after the police units who have been proactively pursuing those who commit such crimes have been eliminated. The events of this past weekend are only the beginning.

Hard decisions are going to have to be made, but I submit to you that all cuts are not created equal.

James Gonzales is a member of the Board of Directors of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association.

Click on Ad Below to Go to
Gilroy Motorcycle Center

Comment Advisement
We welcome your thoughts, but for the sake of all readers, please refrain from the use of obscenities, personal attacks or racial slurs. All comments are subject to our terms of service and may be removed. Repeat offenders may lose commenting privileges.

Install the ratings plugin

Popularity:
187 views

Comments:
One

Toolbar: