Arrests, Task Forces and Video-gate.... Oh, My!

(in a Spader-free zone...)

“Thin-skinned” filmmaker/San Jose Police Officers Association President Bobby Lopez continued his media attack with an opinion piece in the Merc. (Followed closely by (another) Herhold piece on Lopez today.) In Lopez’ piece, he repeated his assertion that “patience is wearing thin” is a “serious attempt to threaten and intimidate the City Council.”

While the POA’s video may defy explanation… the entire ordeal calls for a recap of how we got where we are today…

October 2008: Latino + San Jose = Drunk Arrest?

• The Merc. broke the story that San Jose arrests for “drunk in public” outpaced all other California cities with a historic review of San Jose’s ongoing problems with “attitude” arrests.
• Then Independent Police Auditor Barbara Attard said she didn’t understand why San Jose’s arrests were “so much higher than everyone else.” Mayor Chuck Reed (awkwardly) explained that “it’s a socio-economic problem.”
• Councilmember Nora Campos proposes amending a State law to ensure intoxication arrests are used uniformly and not left to the“interpretation of individual municipalities."
• La Raza Roundtable leader Victor Garza called on Mayor Chuck Reed and Police Chief Rob Davis to “reduce these arrests and stop criminalizing Latinos.”

November 2008: Houston, we got a problem…

• The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors (as if they have any say in this issue…) unanimously ordered a review of public intoxication arrests, at the request of outgoing Supervisor Blanca Alvarado.
• Councilmember Sam Liccardo called for a wide range of options including a sobering center and data on arrestees.
• Mayor Chuck Reed said the Council would see if problems needed to be handled better and they would not “dodge the ethnicity question.”
• Mayor Reed and Councilmember Nora Campos join forces to create the (obvious solution) Public Intoxication Task Force. Councilmember Liccardo expressed doubt the Task Force was the best idea…

December 2008: Data? What data?

• Police Chief Rob Davis was surprised to learn the data didn’t support his assertions on San Jose’s drunk Latino arrest rates…
• Mayor Reed, data wonk at heart, said “It’s pretty clear to me that we have some problems that need to be fixed.”
• (Soon-to-be-former) Independent Police Auditor Barbara Attard’s recommendation to use Breathalyzers was implemented.

January 2009: Task Forces…where good ideas go to die…

• The Drunk Task Force had its first meeting. Silicon Valley Democratic Forum’s Pete Carrillo allowed there could be a reason 57% of those arrested were Latino “but, I haven’t heard it.”
• De-Bug/Really Scary/San Jose Inside’s Raj Jayadev expressed belief the Task Force needs only will power to create reform. Oh, support and authority wouldn’t hurt either.
• The Drunk Task Force and City of San Jose staff squabble over the relevance of history, having forgotten “those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it…”

February 2009: Campos to the rescue…

• Councilmember Nora Campos went to Sacramento to call for changes to drunk arrest laws while the Latino Forum’s Pete Carrillo expressed the belief of a “credibility and trust issue.”
• The Merc’s Editorial Board calls on the San Jose Police Department to release reports on drunk arrests in support of Councilmember Nora Campos’ records request.

March 2009: Task Force slow death begins…

• Early in the month, ACLU Leader Skyler Porras said “there is no point in sitting at the table to combat the symptoms without getting at the disease.”
• The other shoe fell as the Task Force was ditched in favor of the (Police Chief-selected) Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity.
• De-Bug/San Jose Inside’s Raj Jayadev teamed up with Task Force colleague Raul Colunga to suggest the Task Force change its name to “Task Force of the Humored.”

April 2009: Flipping the bird…

• The Task Force gives a (figurative) finger to the City of San Jose

May 2009: Going, going, gone…

• Seven members of the Public Intoxication Task Force resign in protest, the day before their final meeting leaving the final meeting to conclude with 70% of the community members gone.
• The Merc’s Editorial Board calls on the city to repair the rift with the Task Force.

June 2009: Old recommendations and YouTube…

• Recommendations from what was left of the Task Force were presented to City Council among them Breathalyzers (December), sobering center (October), documenting arrests (really?), and enhanced training for officers.
• Video-Gate… (YouTube is still waiting...)