San Jose Police Department

San Jose Police Department
Abbreviation SJPD

Patch of the San Jose Police Department

Logo of the San Jose Police Department
Agency overview
Formed 1849
Annual budget $285 million
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction* State of California, USA
Size 178.2 square miles (462 km2)
Population 1,000,000+
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters 201 W. Mission Street
San Jose, CA 95110
Sworn members 900 Officers
Unsworn members 370 Civilian
Agency executive Edgardo (Eddie) Garcia, Chief
Facilities
Stations 2
Airbases 1
Helicopters 1
Fixed Wings 1
Website
San Jose Police website
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

The San Jose Police Department (SJPD) is the police agency for San Jose, California, which has contributed to San Jose being one of the safest large cities in the United States.[1] The San Jose Police Department is led by Chief of Police Edgardo (Eddie) Garcia.

In September 2007, the San Jose Police Department began making all its Calls for Service available to the public [2] through a partnership with Crime Reports.com.[3] San Jose is the first American city to make all 911 calls available via online "CrimeReports.com" maps. The 911 call data is updated daily.

History

The San Jose Police Department was founded in 1849. At that time, California was not even officially part of the United States, but regardless, San Jose was considered the capital.

During its beginnings, the most common offenses recorded for the department were public intoxication and vagrancy according to old jailhouse records. In 1880, the department was averaging at 120 arrests per month, and the position of police chief was created. The chief also acted as the superintendent of the city jail, and by the late 1880s, the department went from 10 officers at its beginning to 25. In the early 1900s, as the SJPD grew, it became much more organized. As laws were passed and the department modernized, more rules and regulations were instituted regarding police officers. Officers now needed to go through field training and revolver training.

The department, along with many others in the nation, drastically changed with the introduction of the automobile and the advent of motorcycle units. The motorcycle unit mainly cited people for speeding and other traffic violations, and spent a considerable amount of time in court. San Jose was one of the first places to use radio and phone technology to help officers perform their duties better. In 1925, the city council released the first rules and regulations manual to all department members. It was the inspiration for the duty manual that the department currently uses. The San Jose Police Academy first started out as a police college for aspiring officers to earn four year bachelor's degrees with an emphasis on criminal justice. Men made up the entire police force up until 1945, when Ida Waalkes became the first female to be a sworn officer with the San Jose Police Department.

Community policing became popular with the department in the early 1990s, as specific geographic areas were mapped out and assigned. This enabled officers to get to know the people and communities they patrolled, and is partially credited for keeping San Jose one of the safest large cities in America.[4]

Uniform and equipment

The uniform of the department consists of a dark navy blue shirt for sworn officers, and a light blue or white shirt for differing civilian classifications. On the left side of the chest is worn the departmental badge, or a patch replica on certain items. The badge of a sworn police officer is a silver seven-point star reading "San Jose Police", the officer's rank, and badge number. Gold-colored badges are issued to higher ranking police officers. Civilian staff are issued eagle-top or oval shaped shields depending on classification. The San Jose Police Department patch is worn on both sleeves, with a rocker denoting classification for civilian staff. Pants are regular navy blue uniform trousers with white piping running down the side of the leg.

Weapons and equipment

The San Jose Police Departments officers normally carry tasers. The standard taser for the department was recently upgraded and is the TASER(R) X26P(TM) Smart Weapon.[5] Officers are issued OC Spray, handcuffs, a baton, flashlight plus a handgun and two spare magazines. In 2013 the department changed the standard issue, semi-automatic handgun from SIG Sauer to Glock. Squad cars are normally armed with shotguns and officers are allowed to purchase patrol rifles, which must be signed off by the chief for the officer to obtain the right to purchase and possess such weapons. An officer is also required to go on a four-day course. The officers must purchase these weapons with their own money, they are allowed to bring them home and use them for personal/recreational use.[6]

In mid-2014, the department returned a mine-resistant military vehicle to the federal government.[7]

Mission statement

Department Chain of Command (Office of the Chief of Police)

Source:[8]

Police divisions

Controversy

In 2014, the department had been found to be using high tech cellphone spying systems. Commonly referred to as "Stingrays", it is often said they bear the appearance of regular cell phone towers, but instead pick up and record cell phone data. It was shown that the federal government gave the department a $500,000 grant for the technology. The SJPD spokesperson refused to comment on the situation.[13]

In July 2003, Cau Bich Tran was shot and killed in her kitchen by a SJPD officer after brandishing a 10-inch vegetable peeler. The incident led to controversy among San Jose's Vietnamese community. In 2005, the city of San Jose settled the Tran family's lawsuit for $1.8 million.[14]

On Halloween 2011, a 27-year-old man was shot over 20 times by four SJPD officers and wounded, as he was dressed as a surgeon and had a toy gun in his waistband. In 2013, the city settled a lawsuit for $4.95 million, the largest settlement in San Jose involving police conduct.[15]

In March 2014, Officer Geoffrey Graves was accused of raping a woman. He turned himself into Santa Clara County Jail and was arraigned on March 24.[16]

In December 2014, SJPD officer Phillip White made statements on Twitter that he would kill people who would threaten him and his family and that he would be carrying a gun while off duty at movie theaters, in response to protests of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. White was subsequently placed on administrative leave. The San Jose Police Association have condemned the comments.[17] In January 2015, prosecutors declined to file charges against White.[18]

Ranks

Rank Insignia
Chief
Assistant Chief
Deputy Chief
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Officer N/A

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the San Jose Police Department, 12 officers have died in the line of duty, the most recent being on March 24, 2015.[19]

Officer Date of Death Details
Morris Vandyck Hubbard
Saturday, July 12, 1924
Gunfire
John Buck
Wednesday, April 5, 1933
Gunfire
John J. Covalesk
Wednesday, November 15, 1950
Gunfire
Richard E. Huerta
Thursday, August 6, 1970
Gunfire
Robert A. (Bob) White
Sunday, January 27, 1985
Electrocuted
Henry I. Bunch
Monday, July 29, 1985
Gunfire
Robert Lee Wirht
Thursday, September 8, 1988
Vehicle pursuit
Gordon A. Silva
Friday, January 20, 1989
Gunfire
Gene Ronald Simpson
Friday, January 20, 1989
Gunfire
Desmond J. Casey
Monday, October 25, 1999
Aircraft accident
Jeffrey Fontana
Sunday, October 28, 2001
Gunfire
Michael Johnson
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Gunfire

See also

References

  1. ↑ "City Crime Rankings by Population". Morganquitno.com. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
  2. ↑ "Crime Reports : Map". Crimereports.com. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  3. ↑ "Crime Reports : Map". Crimereports.com. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  4. ↑ "History of the San Jose Police Department". YouTube. 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  5. ↑ "San Jose Police Department Upgrades 590 TASER X26P Smart Weapons - Yahoo Finance". Finance.yahoo.com. 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  6. ↑ "Should Calif. Cops Turn In Assault Weapons They Own At Retirement? « CBS San Francisco". Sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com. 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  7. ↑ an Jose Police to Return Military-Grade Armored Vehicle By Jennifer Wadsworth, 29 August 2014, San Jose Inside
  8. ↑ "Department Information". Sjpd.org. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  9. ↑ "Foothill Division". Sjpd.org. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  10. ↑ "Western Division". Sjpd.org. 2014-11-12. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  11. ↑ "Southern Division". Sjpd.org. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  12. ↑ "Central Division". Sjpd.org. 2015-06-15. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  13. ↑ Wadsworth, Jennifer (2014-03-20). "SJPD Bought Controversial Cellphone Spying Technology". San Jose Inside. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  14. ↑ "SAN JOSE / $1.8 million settlement in killing by police officer / 4-foot-9-inch troubled mother fatally shot in kitchen while holding a vegetable peeler". SFGate. 2005-12-01. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  15. ↑ "San Jose to pay nearly $5 million for shooting man with toy gun - San Jose Mercury News". Mercurynews.com. 2011-10-23. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  16. ↑ "San Jose police officer charged with rape - San Jose Mercury News". Mercurynews.com. 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  17. ↑ San Jose cop suspended for Twitter threat to protesters, CBC News, December 16, 2014.
  18. ↑ "SJPD officer wont face charges for controversial tweets". abc7news.com. 2015-01-08. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  19. ↑ "San Jose Police Department, California, Fallen Officers". Odmp.org. Retrieved 2015-07-16.

External links

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