March 1, 2007

Lifelong San Jose resident named new SJPD southern division captain

Captain David Cavallaro seeks to deliver high ‘quality of life’ to San Jose

By Ali Abdollahi
Staff Writer

An officer that began his career a quarter-century ago “on a whim” has been named southern division captain for the San Jose Police Department, covering the largest geographical jurisdiction in the city. He’s filling the position vacated in January by retiring Captain Jack Farmer.

Though Captain David Cavallaro, 53, joined the force as an “old” 27-year old rookie in 1982, his extensive experience has included stints in gang investigation, internal affairs, officer training and his most recent position in the vice and intelligence unit.

Through his mid-20's, Cavallaro and his wife were both working at McDonald’s, as a manager and assistant manager, respectively. It was actually at his wife’s suggestion that Cavallaro first considered applying for the police force. “A number of police officers would stop in (to McDonald’s) to grab a bite to eat or coffee, and my wife would strike up conversations with them,” said Cavallaro. “She suggested to me, ‘you might want to consider this.’”

Deciding that he had “maximized his potential” in the restaurant business, Cavallaro, a lifelong San Jose resident, applied to the department. “It was kind of on a whim,” Cavallaro said. “It was more just something to do, something different.” But with each stage of the process that he passed, Cavallaro became more and more enthused about the prospects of becoming a police officer.

He spent his first six months on the force as a patrol officer and in the information center. He credits that experience with teaching him about the department’s systems, procedures and the benefit of thorough research, which he was able to later apply to criminal cases.

Cavallaro then became a field-training officer, helping to indoctrinate new members of the force. “I really enjoyed that experience,” said Cavallaro. “I think you really have the ability to impact the future of the department. It’s so important that we recognize the huge responsibility we have.

“We arrest people so routinely, and sometimes we forget how important that is. You’re taking someone’s freedom away from them. So I tell the officers to just treat people how they want to be treated, and to remember that we’re typically dealing with people when they’re at their worst.”

Cavallaro then moved into the undercover vice unit, where he helped investigate gambling and helped break up prostitution rings and loan sharking operations. “I worked harder (in vice) than anywhere else, but that was by choice, because I really enjoyed the work,” Cavallaro said.

As an undercover officer, Cavallaro got “dirtied up,” altering his appearance and growing his hair long, leading to some eye-opening experiences outside of his police work. “What was interesting was that when I would go into a nice restaurant or a nice store, people would look down on me, like, ‘This guy’s a dirtbag, the scum of the earth,’” said Cavallaro. “So it really gave me a different perspective.”

Cavallaro was promoted to sergeant in 1993, but in 2001 he endured his most difficult experience on the force. Less than two months after his promotion to lieutenant in September 2001, Cavallaro was working the night 24-year old rookie Jeffrey Fontana was gunned down. “It’s the worst thing that anyone can go through in law enforcement, to lose one of your own,” said Cavallaro.

From that difficult scenario, Cavallaro then moved into another situation, which is sometimes challenging for officers: internal affairs. In that department, he uncovered a variety of wrongdoing by fellow officers, including insurance fraud, excessive force and drunk driving. Said Cavallaro, “We have an obligation to the community to make sure that we are policing our officers, making sure that they follow procedures and treat people properly.”

Later serving in the city’s gang unit, Cavallaro faced yet another of San Jose’s most central law enforcement issues. “I think one of the biggest problems in relation to gangs is the misinformation, and the lack of knowledge on the part of the community,” said Cavallaro. “That’s why I try to make as many community presentations about the issue as I can.”

A large part of the problem, according to Cavallaro, is the rivalries between second-generation Mexican-American gangs, often called “Nortenos,” and newly arrived immigrants, or “Surenos.” “For whatever reason, these second-generation kids seem to believe that they’re better than the newer immigrants.”

Cavallaro said there has been a recent spike in gang activity, and that the gangs are largely controlled by prison gangs that center around the drug trade. He reiterated, however, his belief that much of the issue is a “turf war.”

On a positive note, Cavallaro pointed to the fact that several other cities in the California are modeling their gang units after San Jose’s gang prevention task force, and speaks highly of the “Intervention, Prevention, Suppression” philosophy employed by the department. “It’s very difficult to control, but I think we as a city deal pretty effectively with gang crimes.”

Issues with gangs, auto crimes and property crimes are problems that San Jose residents did not have to deal with when Cavallaro was growing up in the city in the 1950s and 60s. “It was much more of an agricultural city then,” said Cavallaro. “There were orchards right across the street from where I lived. Now, we’re the tenth largest city in the nation, and that comes with positives and negatives.”

Cavallaro and his family have witnessed the transformation of San Jose first-hand. His parents were part of a large group of Italian immigrants that moved to the Santa Clara County from Connecticut over a half-century ago. Cavallaro was the middle of five children, and his grandfather ran a cabinet shop on Lick Avenue throughout his childhood.

He attended old Blackford High School, West Valley College and San Jose State University, and is now taking on-line classes at CSU-Long Beach to earn his bachelors degree in professional studies.

Despite his long and winding journey – or perhaps because of it – Cavallaro, a married father of three, employs a simple philosophy in his police work. “If we can make where we work a little better than we found it, then I think we’ve succeeded,” he said.