Defund the San José Police Department
Ahmaud Arbery is a 25-year-old Black man who was murdered on February 23, 2020 by racists while running.
George Floyd is a 46-year-old Black man who was murdered on May 25, 2020 by the Minneapolis Police Department.
Breonna Taylor is a 26-year-old Black woman who was murdered on March 13, 2020 by the Louisville Police Department.
Tony McDade is a 38-year-old Black man who was murdered on May 27, 2020 by the Tallahassee Police Department .
These are among the latest counts of police-sanctioned murders fueled by white supremacist and anti-black ideology that plagues our systems of “community policing” and city-wide enforcement. Police departments have an overtly racist history that informs the way Black people are overpoliced and murdered without consequences at the hands of police. The latest string of murders, against the already stressful backdrop of COVID-19, created a wave of protests nationally and globally to end the multi-faceted war against the Black community. Millions of people across the United States and among other nations, congregated to demand the arrests of the people and officers involved in these murders. It also opened up the floodgates for radical systems changes that the Black community has been fighting for for decades. Amongst those ideas is the clear need to defund the police and divert those funds into Black communities so that they have full control over their communities.
Among the many cities who are demanding to defund their police departments is the is the San Jose Strong campaign in the City of San José. The City is proposing to allocate $440 Million to the San José Police Department (SJPD) over the next fiscal year. That’s 44% of the total general fund expenditures, and more than any one department receives. With COVID-19 related budget shortfalls, the City is also planning on cutting a number of programs, including libraries, traffic safety projects, and public space projects. The systemic problem with these allocations is that cities across the nation have relegated so many of our social issues to an unqualified police force. Instead of investing in preventative measures, programs, and policies that take care of people’s full selves, we’ve over-funded, over-invested, and over-relied on a police system that too often inflicts violence on its residents. The costs of keeping the police fully funded are too high, and that cost too often comes at the destruction of Black life.
Now, the community is calling for our elected officials to defund SJPD and divert the City’s resources to schools, libraries, mental health services, community programs, and parks. However, the Mayor has already publicly stated that the City cannot defund SJPD because, “We have seen traffic-related deaths of pedestrians and cyclists climb while the staffing of our traffic enforcement unit remains near historic lows.” How opportunistic for the Mayor to place the blame on increasing walking and biking crashes, rather than acknowledge that the police department cannot prevent, or intercept said crashes in the first place. Traffic enforcement is a reactive response that aims to punish rather than prevent injuries and fatalities. In order to reach the root cause of traffic crashes, our City needs to address the way streets are built and invest in safe and accessible design for our roadways. Yet, our city continues to invest in traffic enforcement, which perpetuates a cycle of racial bias and anti-blackness. According to a 2017 study on traffic stops in San José, a driver or pedestrian is disproportionately likely to be pulled over if they are Black or Latinx, and when pulled over, Black and Latinx residents are more likely to be handcuffed or sat in a police vehicle.
In the past few weeks alone we have seen that SJPD cannot prevent crashes, and are even willing to use vehicles as a tool to maintain power and control over protesters. On May 29th, a driver in an SUV drove into a crowd of protesters, and despite a heavy police presence, SJPD could do nothing to stop it. On June 2nd, a SJPD officer on a motorcycle drove into a protester, which SJPD later stated was an “accident.” Active transportation advocates have long disavowed the use of “accidents” to describe crashes because it assumes that the crash was unpreventable, and it negates any responsibility and accountability from the driver. The crash between SJPD and the protester was not an accident, and SJPD alone is responsible for injuring that protester.
The City budget is a public document that puts our City’s morals on display. Our City leaders have stated their commitment to racial equity, traffic safety, and now police accountability. Yet, their actions continue to be performative gestures of solidarity that do very little to actually advance racial equity and traffic safety within the City. Put your money where your mouth is; defund the police department and divert resources back to communities. It’s that simple.
The City’s final budget hearing is on Monday, June 15th at 1:30 p.m. You can listen in on Zoom or Youtube, or call in at this (888)475-4499 with ID: 915 6205 3469
To comment at the meeting, raise your hand in Zoom or click *9 on your phone.
You can also submit a comment ahead of time by emailing city.clerk@sanjoseca.gov by with your comment.
City Council will discuss the Mayor’s June Budget Message on Tuesday, 6/16 at 11 a.m. You can listen on Zoom or Youtube, or call in at this (888)475-4499 with ID: 915 6205 3469
To comment at the meeting, raise your hand in Zoom or click *9 on your phone.
You can also submit a comment ahead of time by emailing city.clerk@sanjoseca.gov by with your comment.