[GPSCC-chat] San José Police?

[Spencer Graves]

Hello, All:


        LaDoris Cordell, retired judge and current Independent Police 
Auditor for the City of San José spoke today at the monthly meeting of 
the Coalition for Justice and Accountability, organized in part by 
Richard Konda of the Asian Law Alliance (www.asianlawalliance.org;  for 
some of their previous activities, see 
"www.sjbeez.org/special/coalition-for-justice-and-accountability-forums").


        This presentation included a list of action items for everyone 
concerned about the quality of policing in San José.  The following is 
my summary:


              1.  The City is now working to recruit a replacement for 
Police Chief Moore, retiring Jan. 30, 2013.  The City is holding public 
hearings to receive "community input regarding the ideal qualities that 
the City Manager should consider in evaluating candidates for this 
position. Community input meetings have been scheduled at the following 
locations from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m." Meetings are scheduled for Nov. 
26, 28, and Dec. 3 and 10;  for locations check 
"http://www.sanjoseca.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=142".


              2.  Judge Cordell is asking for public support to have all 
police officers wear cameras the create a record of everything they do 
on duty.  Chief Moore has found money for half of the $1.5 million this 
would require, and he wants the City Council to provide the other half. 
  District Attorney Rosen is preparing a protocol for how these records 
would be handled.  I believe it would dramatically increase the rate of 
convictions for crimes, especially those committed in the presence of an 
officer, while dramatically reducing the complaints of officer 
misconduct.  Judge Cordell said the older officers hate this idea, and 
the younger officers love it.  An op ed piece she wrote on this appeared 
in the Mercury News Dec. 20, 2011 but has since expired from their web 
site.  (If you want a scanned image of that article, please let me 
know.)  People in San José are encouraged to write their City Council 
representative asking about this.  I just received a reply from 
Pierluigi Oliverio saying, "Yes it is moving forward as we can afford to 
buy them."  I would expect that more inquiries about this would likely 
make it easier for them to find the money.


              3.  Judge Cordell said that anyone can issue a complaint 
to the Independent Police Auditor.  She said her office had recently 
received a complaint from someone in India who knows people here who had 
knowledge of events about which there were questions of police 
misconduct.  If you see a questionable incident regarding the police in 
San José, you are encouraged to file a complaint with her office, 
"www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?nid=200", ind_pol_aud at sanjoseca.gov, (408) 
794-6226.


        Spencer


-- 
Spencer Graves, PE, PhD
President and Chief Technology Officer
Structure Inspection and Monitoring, Inc.
751 Emerson Ct.
San José, CA 95126
ph:  408-655-4567
web:  www.structuremonitoring.com