Will $25,000 buy San Jose police some love?

The San Jose Peace Officers [sic] Association (SJPOA) Board has recently commissioned a $25,000 poll to find out whether San Jose citizens will support a mandated "officer-to-citizen" ratio for San Jose. The survey is to see if residents would support a ballot initiative for the hiring of more police. In his monthly message, SJPOA president Sgt. Don DeMers shows us how he applies police street tactics of intimidation and provocation to the realm of public policy, claiming that public awareness of police staffing "will either scare the Hell out of them or make them angry". So he advises his members:

"If a citizen asks you about staffing in the police department, tell them the truth."

Well, if you insist...

A Washington Post study of the 50 largest local law enforcement agencies during 1990-2000 found that San Jose ranked #19 in ratio of fatal shootings by police to number of sworn officers. That means San Jose's average "kill-per-cop" was among the tops in the nation.

So, tell the truth: if the SJPOA gets its wish for more police on the streets does anyone believe the kill-per-cop will go down? Given their recent surge in killing, and eternal immunity from prosecution, you can bet on it staying the same or rising - resulting in even more deaths.

And the biggest irony is that SJPOA would not even exist were it not for the struggle to legitimize unions - that was initiated, led, and won by the same class of people police are freely killing and brutalizing today. And where were police during the struggle for unions and their benefits? Killing and brutalizing striking workers.

We want less police - not more. We want funds to be used to build a sustainable economy and provide health care, education and recreation for all. So our job is to ensure that police scare tactics fail, and that they get a $25,000 thumbs-down from the public.