SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- In San Jose, the majority of voters approved a local measure aimed to change how certain investigations of police misconduct cases are reviewed.
On Wednesday, results show voters passed Measure G with 78 % of the 227,000 total votes cast.
“I think it demonstrates that our community is very eager to see new mechanisms that can bring greater accountability and transparency to our police department by expanding the authority of the Independent Police Auditor,” said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo.
“This is a very important step but it’s just an early step, we know there’s more work ahead including what I intend to do which is to ultimately take investigations of police misconduct out of the police department and bring it outside the department to the Independent Police Auditor.”
The measure was brought forward by San Jose City Council as protests erupted after the death of George Floyd.
But -- despite San Jose voters passing Measure G by a significant margin -- families who have been impacted by local police brutality say this is only a cover up of a much larger issue.
For Rosie Chavez -- her family has had to endure the ongoing pains of losing her nephew at the hands of SJPD officers just three years prior.
Through the help of Silicon Valley De-Bug -- a police watchdog group -- Chavez and her family got the help they needed to file a civil suit for police records.
“I think Measure G is a step towards change but to me I also see that it was a blanket cover just to show we’re doing something here,” said Chavez, Participatory Defense Organizer with Silicon Valley De-Bug.
“Not once have they actually sat at the table with all of us impacted families and they know Silicon Valley De-Bug works with about 13 of us … so meet with us so you can really feel what we’re feeling.”
Liccardo tells KRON4 News the city is aware things will only get harder moving forward as they try to address issues within its own police department including firing “bad” cops.
“The police officers themselves support it as well, the Police Officers Association did and so I think there's a universal recognition of a need for some changes to improve public confidence and the accountability of the San Jose Police Department,” said Liccardo.
“The next steps are going to harder as we look at things for example around enabling police chiefs to really to be able to have more discretion to being able to fire bad cops, there’s a lot of hurdles in the way particularly around arbitration that need a lot of streamlining and we see this not in San Jose but in cities throughout the country.”
Chavez and other impacted families say there’s nothing that can be done to bring back their loved ones back but instead ask the city to use part of the police department budget to help communities impacted by police misconduct.
“Silicon Valley De-Bug had created a Protect Your People budget plan to defund the police … and when we say defund the police we’re not saying take the police away, we’re saying cut areas that are not needed and put into community,” Chavez said.
“Put that money in places within the community … long term care for the kids, or counseling the widows, asking to take certain units away like the unit that killed my nephew.”
Additional changes:
Under Measure G:
- A charter amendment would expand the Independent Police Auditors authority without requiring a public vote.
- Change the size of the city’s planning commission from seven to 11 members.
- Allow City Council to adjust the timelines for redistricting when results from the census count are late.
To learn more on Measure G -- click here.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/2I5GDpo
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