Do You Agree that We Need 200 More Cops to Protect San José?
As you may have read or seen on the news, I’ve recently introduced a proposal with Mayor Chuck Reed to create a strategy to hire more than 200 more police officers. We’ve also proposed to better retain our current officers by restoring net pay over the next four years, as the city’s coffers recover from the Great Recession. We’ve already identified over $30 million in funding for police hires and pay restoration — with more decisions about future cuts or revenues needed to get us to our goal.
Do you agree that as our scarce revenues rebound, our first priority should focus on hiring and retaining officers to better protect San José neighborhoods?
Sign our petition to put 200 more cops on the street in San José!
Those of you who didn’t closely follow some of the political battles of the last few years might be confused that some city council members and the police union have attacked this plan for more cops.
Some quick history helps explain.
During the Great Recession, we made tough choices and difficult cuts because revenues fell and retirement benefit obligations ballooned. In those years, employee unions like the San José Police Officers Association (POA) demanded that we to continue to spend money we did not have to sustain retirement benefits, such as the average $102,000 annual pension for retiring public safety employees in 2011, along with free health insurance.
The “rule of holes” is simple: when you find yourself in one, stop digging. In this case, all San José taxpayers found ourselves in a very deep hole, bearing the burden of a $2.9 billion unfunded liability for retirement benefits. Neither the POA nor any other union offered a plan that would stop the digging. To balance the need to protect taxpayers and our retirees, we asked voters for support in reforming our unsustainable pension and retirement benefits—and you agreed, approving Measure B by a 70% margin.
We did the right thing by showing the independence to make needed reforms.
Now, with slowly recovering tax revenues and a growing economy, we should prioritize those scarce dollars to hire more police officers to protect the people of San José.
Do you agree? Sign our petition today!
In my days in the DA’s office prosecuting sexual predators and violent felons, I’ve worked closely with rank and file San José cops. I have enormous respect for the work they do. Our officers are among the finest in the nation.
But I disagree with the police union’s board members when they oppose our plan for new cops. I hope they will look beyond politics, and support a strategy of adding 200 more officers in four years.
I know that the police union would like us to increase their wages by a larger amount, at a faster rate, and to halt the pension reform effort. But San José needs leadership with the independence to continue to stand up and make the tough calls – like refusing to spend money that just doesn’t exist.
Let’s increase police pay at a rate that we can afford, so that we have the dollars necessary to hire enough officers to address our public safety challenges.
If you agree – please sign the petition and make your voice heard.