Mercury News: Security Cameras Will Help in San José Even When More Cops Are Hired
Mercury News Editorial (Published September 11, 2014)
It was refreshing to see unanimous approval Tuesday of San Jose City Councilman (and mayoral candidate) Sam Liccardo’s proposal to let residents with security cameras register them with police in case a crime occurs nearby and the video might help solve it.
Liccardo first suggested this in January after security cameras helped nab a serial arsonist who had terrorized a downtown neighborhood. The initial reaction was Big Brother blowback: People thought — and some may still think — it meant officers could just tap into the cameras any time. The registry just gives residents a place to voluntarily log camera locations so that officers know whom to ask about the possibility of video instead of having to canvas whole blocks. It makes sense even for a fully staffed department.
That long term practicality should be the litmus test for judging Liccardo’s public safety proposals.
A former Santa Clara County prosecutor, Liccardo is running on a platform of innovative crime fighting, from better use of data to allocate patrols to simple strategies like the camera registry. City unions and others who support Liccardo’s opponent, Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese, dismiss this as a distraction from low police staffing levels they blame on Measure B, the 2012 pension reform measure that Liccardo supported.
Every public safety debate in San Jose today comes back to Measure B, which was an attempt to rein in mushrooming, unsustainable pension costs that had caused layoffs in even the police department. Much of the law is mired in litigation, and we believe the next mayor, whoever it is, will negotiate a settlement. One reason we recommend Liccardo for the job is that we trust him to do this without selling out the long-term financial interests of the city that the measure was intended to guard.
Taking advantage of security cameras and rebuilding the police force are not either-or propositions. Liccardo’s proposals can help the short-handed department in the interim, but they also can provide a basis for more efficient policing in the future.
The tension between the police union and the council majority over Measure B has made it far more difficult to rebuild the police force. The union rejects even offers of no-strings-attached pay increases for things like bilingual ability that could help retain and recruit officers. It is holding out for an overall resolution of Measure B. Liccardo dismisses the measure’s effects on current staffing, but there’s no question that it has led officers to resign and makes it difficult to recruit qualified replacements.
So a negotiated settlement next year is critical — but it has to be negotiated by an advocate for fiscal sustainability like Liccardo, not by the unions’ candidate.
And if, by the way, that advocate has common sense ideas for making law enforcement and crime prevention more efficient, so much the better.