November 27, 2008

ValleyViewpoints

Are San Jose police doing their job?

Editor,
After reading about the arrests downtown for drunk and disorderly behavior, I asked myself some questions and have come to the conclusion that the San Jose Police Department is doing an excellent job in keeping our city the safest large city in the U.S.

What is the mission of the police? In my view their jobs are to reduce crime, to find the criminals when crimes are committed and to assure that their behavior is such that criminals are not prosecuted because of police behavior.

Why is it that even though San Jose has the lowest police-to-population ratio among large cities, the crime rate is also the lowest?

In my opinion the police have adopted a proactive approach to policing. They do not wait until a crime occurs to act. Many years ago, I believe during the police administration of Chief McNamara, the department began to plot where crimes occurred. Instead of blanketing all the city’s neighborhoods with police patrols, they concentrated the police presence where their data showed crimes had occurred. In this way, the smarter criminals stopped crime activities in those locations. Since the police were near where the crimes occurred, they also were able to solve crimes more quickly, which freed them up to offer more prevention activities.

It has been my opinion that there are not a lot of criminals, but those who commit crimes do so repeatedly. State and local laws that mandated longer prison terms took many San Jose criminals off the streets for longer periods. This also reduced crimes.

The reports of the San Jose Mercury News about crimes downtown are incomplete and flawed. Since the police have identified the downtown as a place where crimes are more prevalent on weekends, they are doing their job of reducing crime by being present. I thank the San Jose police for preserving the area for those San Jose residents who do not become rowdy after drinking downtown. This will or should increase the safety of our law-abiding citizens.

Why is the San Jose Mercury News report flawed? First of all, the report that the number of the arrested residents who are Hispanic does not account for the possibility that the number of Hispanics arrested may be representative of the population at the time of the arrest. Second, that the San Jose police arrests are higher than in larger cities is not relevant. Isn’t their mission to reduce crime? Possibly those other cities with higher crime rates are not as astute as San Jose police management.

A few years ago, I attended an NCADD lunch presentation where a professor at UCSF spoke about Hispanic alcoholism. His research indicated that the leading cause of death among young Hispanic adults is alcoholism. He stated that, unlike young Caucasian males, Hispanic males continue to drink heavily as they age. Is it possible that this is the factor in higher arrests among Hispanics?

What I have learned about alcoholism through many years of watching relatives drink themselves to death is that alcoholics need a strong incentive to stop drinking. Arrests, convictions and diversion to treatment centers have been a successful tool in the Santa Clara County drug courts. One of those judges told me that he observed that when an alcoholic completes the drug court diversion program, the likelihood of his showing up in court again drops to 40 percent from 70 percent.

The San Jose police are probably responsible for saving many lives with their program of quick arrests. First, they stop serious fighting prior to their becoming out of control. Second, for those who learn that their first drink is the one that gets them drunk, the action by the police may bring that drinker to a recognition that drinking is bad for their health. This helps society in many positive ways.

I’m sure that every time police actions are reviewed, they can come to a better way of doing their job. I am also sure they do not want to arrest those who are not participating in unlawful activities. But I must be sure to recognize that the aggressive actions taken by the San Jose Police department is the reason I can say San Jose is a safe place to live.

Art Boudreault
President, Almaden Valley Community Association
Almaden Valley

No more Borowitz

Editor,
It’s time to unload the Borowitz Report. The column not only lacks humor, but it is downright insulting to those in the GOP camp. Also, it is mentioned that his “work can be found in Newsweek.” I have been a subscriber to Newsweek for over three years and not once have I seen his column in that magazine. Do your readers a favor and replace that piece of trash with some non-political humor.

Jim Jeffcoat
Almaden Valley

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