Several San Jose community leaders announced their resignations from the city’s police advisory group during a Thursday news conference at city hall after they expressed discontent with the group’s lack of progress.
The Reimagining Community Safety Advisory Group was formed in September by city leaders after George Floyd’s murder.
More than 40 San Jose community leaders initially joined the group which was created to recommend and evaluate how the San Jose Police Department could intervene with social issues and reduce non-criminal conflicts, according to a March 17 city council memorandum about the group.
Jahmal Williams, a former safety board group member and SJSU director of advocacy for racial justice, said some members felt misled about the group’s purpose and were under the impression it would address safety in all forms, including policing.
Williams said policing is a significant aspect of community safety.
“When you say community safety in the wake of police killing people, unarmed people, then we think of policing and that's the reality,” Williams said in a phone call after the conference.
The group’s first meeting was on March 18 and members expected to meet bi-weekly through August, according to the memorandum.
The group held three meetings, which former members said never led to policy discussions or defined the group’s focus.
William Armaline, director of SJSU’s human rights institute, wrote that the meetings lacked structure, didn’t focus on police reforms and disrespected Black leaders in an April 27 letter to the group.
Williams said some group members asked for data on “how many police are actually racist” and other members had to prove experiences of racism with the data.
Williams also said certain members of the committee would not engage in conversation to recognize that “there is a systemic issue which is why we [the committee] were all brought together.”
Scott Myers-Lipton,SJSU sociology professor and former committee member and , said the resigned members didn’t agree with the SJPD “policing” themselves.
“The city represents the people,” Myers-Lipton said in a phone interview after the conference. “The police are supposed to serve the city and they’re not independent of us in that way. You can’t have the group that is trying to be transformed leading that effort.”
About 38 members still remain on the committee, however current member and Santa Clara County board of education trustee Peter Ortiz said San Jose needs to reimagine its public safety process and listen to the community as well as former and resigned group members’ concerns.
“If the City of San Jose does not rectify their concerns, I will step away,” Ortiz said in a phone call after the conference.
Resigned members are calling for the City of San Jose to turn the group over to community members’ suggestions.
“We took that action [resigning] to hopefully change the direction of the commission and not end the commission,” Myers-Lipton said.
He said Angel Rios, deputy city manager, met with resigned members and they voiced how they’d like to see a community-driven board.
Rios said the existing advisory group will continue its work on enhancing and ensuring community safety, according to an April 28 San Jose Spotlight article.
The resigned members are currently working on a new model for their ideal vision of community safety.
“We have scholars, we have leaders, we have community members all with insight and data and information we can use to craft real transformative solutions,” Williams said.
