The San Jose City Council asked San Jose Police Department officers during Tuesday’s Zoom meeting if the department could improve officer training after hearing about a rise in procedural violations and inappropriate behavior while on duty.
The SJPD Internal Affairs Unit presented the Department Initiated Administrative Investigations report at the meeting and revealed that 102 misconduct allegations were made against SJPD officers in 2019. The department is responsible for establishing policies and procedures within law enforcement, as well as reviewing police complaints and misconduct, according to their procedural manual. This is the highest number of allegations made in more than five years, according to the report.
SJPD Deputy Chief David Tindall said during the meeting that the department wasn’t surprised by the high number of allegations.
“These are all things that [happen] when [officers] are younger and less experienced,” Tindall said. “It hasn’t become second nature to them.”
Stan McFadden, SJPD lieutenant and police academy director, said during the meeting that officers with one to three years of experience are more likely to receive these misconduct allegations.
The most common misconduct allegations discussed in the investigations report were procedure violations, such as forgetting to turn body cameras on and inappropriate behavior while on duty, such as driving under the influence.
When a police officer believes a fellow officer violates the department’s policy or procedure, that person can file a complaint with the SJPD Internal Affairs Unit. According to the investigations report, Internal Affairs will launch an internal investigation to see if the allegation against the accused officer is true. Officers will investigate the allegations by collecting evidentiary material and by conducting witness interviews, according to the Internal Affairs manual. If the officer is found guilty of the allegations, the consequences can be anything from a verbal warning to getting suspended from work. Internal Affairs is responsible for tracking and maintaining the number of public complaints made against officers, according to the SJPD website.
“Is there an opportunity for us to fine tune the field training program to reduce the number of allegations?” Maya Esparza, council member for District 7, asked during the meeting.
Shivaun Nurre, the independent police auditor, said during the meeting that although the number of internal allegations increased from last year, the number of complaints and concerns made by community members against SJPD decreased. In 2019, SJPD received 216 complaints, a 13% decrease from the previous year, according to the police auditor report.
The office of the independent police auditor is separate from the police department and collects complaints made by the public against SJPD and the department of initiated investigations , according to the City of San Jose website. The independent police auditor compiles the data and releases a yearly report to reveal trends in officer behavior and offer recommendations for policy changes.
After the report was presented, community members were allowed to comment on the report.
San Jose resident Paul Soto asked SJPD to be more transparent about an officer’s background and qualification. He said officers should own up to their mistakes no matter what level of experience or position they are in.
“A necessary component of policing is that [officers] have the degree of humility to accept their wrongs and their faults,”Soto said.
