Beat Cop Responds

Looks like our experiment worked. Thanks for all the great questions. I tried to pick one to answer in this week’s blog, but in this first installment, I’ll respond to two of them...

George:

I am always impressed by the way SJ officers always seem to keep their uniforms pressed and neat. But this raises some questions: How much does one complete uniform cost? Do officers get a uniform allowance? Does it cover 100% of costs? Does the department require officers to have a minimum number of uniforms? And what happens if, during the course of a shift, a uniform gets messed up (blood, torn in a struggle, etc.)? Is the officer required to change uniforms so that he/she can look professional for the rest of the shift? Thanks for keeping us safe!

Beat Cop:

Thanks for the question(s) George.

A set of uniform pants and shirt costs about $300 dollars. That does not include boots, hat, tie, and nameplates, which together total about $250. Each officer is required to have a clean, military-pressed uniform for each day of work. Officers usually maintain three to four sets of uniforms. Some uniforms will be at the cleaners and others will be rotated for use on upcoming work days.

Officers are required to have a clean uniform ready to change into during a shift if it is exposed to blood, torn or soiled. Dry cleaning is the only way to get the uniforms looking the way they do. The cost of dry-cleaning pants and a shirt is about $6. Normal wear and tear gives a new uniform a lifespan of about a year.

A total of four sets of uniforms, boots, and dry cleaning for a year comes to a total of $2,050. The city provides a $675 uniform allowance to each officer and does not cover any dry cleaning costs. That leaves $1,375 out of pocket for each officer per year.

—

Kathleen:

I live near Houge Park in [City Council] District 9. Every night after 10 pm, there are teenagers at the playground drinking and smoking pot. I never see any police officers patrol there. Why not? Is it because you are short-staffed?

Beat Cop:

Most parks are “closed” after dusk per municipal code. Drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana or just being in a park after hours are all crimes. Whenever you see this type of activity, call 3-1-1 (non-emergency line) and report it. Officers will be dispatched if they are not responding to crimes in progress or crimes with greater priority.

If the activity is ongoing and you would like to request officers make patrol checks in your neighborhood, you can call 3-1-1 for that as well. The dispatcher can make up a patrol check request that will be routed to the officers that work the area and make the supervisors aware of the problem. Officers will generally make checks at parks in their beat when they have free patrol time.

For the purposes of policing, San Jose is divided into patrol divisions, districts, and finally individual beats. I cannot remember the last time every beat in the city was filled with an officer. The hours you are concerned about — after 10pm — tend to be the busiest times for calls for service. Depending on the time of night, your whole council district may only have 5-8 officers patrolling it. A large event or several small events commonly leave no officers free to patrol parks during these times.

The San Jose Police Department is undeniably short-staffed. It is possible that there are not officers assigned to the beat your park is in from time to time and officers must respond form neighboring beats and districts to calls for service in yours. The chronic lack of officers in a city the size of ours is a well-known problem that has been overlooked by our city administration. The city has consistently denied our Chief of Police’s request for an appropriate amount of officers to patrol the city.

Despite these shortfalls, SJPD takes pride in addressing all crime in our city. We ask that the public be patient form time to time as we address your problems with our current level of staffing. You can also help us help you. When reporting a crime, be as descriptive as possible. Write down license plates, clothing descriptions, and anything else that could help a responding officer locate the people responsible for the crime.

I will pass on your patrol request to the beat cop in your area and have an officer contact you for more information.

—

That’s all for now. If you have a question for Beat Cop, please fill out this online form, and we will try to answer each question individually and may use yours in upcoming blogs.

Check back next Thursday for a new Beat Cop column.

Proudly serving you,
Your Beat Cop