San José councilmembers motioned to pass certain updates to the city’s cannabis regulations and police oversight in a meeting at City Hall on Tuesday.
Cannabis Regulations
San José has a higher amount of fines relating to cannabis regulations compared to Oakland, Mountain View, Redwood City and other nearby cities based on a review of the city’s Administrative Citation Schedule of Fines schedules, according to the memorandum.
Councilmembers unanimously motioned to pass updating certain fines, including identification badge display, various registration and operational violations, security and public safety violations and other more egregious violations, according to the same source.
District 5 Councilmember Peter Ortiz said he felt concerned about the increasing popularity of vape products and smoke shops.
“You can throw a stone in East San José and hit a smoke shop,” Ortiz said. “Then right next to the smoke shop is a liquor store and then a short distance away from that is a fast food joint on any given street in my district.”
Dan Georgiadis said he represents Purple Lotus, a cannabis business in District 3 near Highway 1.
Georgiadis said there are smoke shops in San José that sell hemp and synthetic Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products and flavored tobacco.
THC is the main active ingredient marijuana, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Georgiadis said because synthetic products are not tracked, lab tested or taxed, they are likely being illegally sold to people under 21 years old.
He said the Purple Lotus supports anything the city can do to make improvements on the issues of drugs being sold to minors and issues related to out-of-state licensed cannabis businesses coming into the city without being registered with the Division of Cannabis Regulation (DCR).
DCR is the application process new cannabis businesses register through, according to the San José Police Department.
Wendy Sollazi, the police department's division of cannabis regulation division manager, said they realize some community members may not know where to go for any concerns or questions relating to cannabis regulations.
Sollazi said the department encourages community members to call 911 if they witness a drug deal that includes illegal substances.
San José Police Sgt. David Woolsey said the success of that call is based on the volume and priority of calls at the moment.
“If there was absolutely nothing going on, absolutely,” Woolsey said. “Officers could be dispatched to that.”
Police Misconduct
Councilmembers turned the discussion to acknowledging investigations on police misconduct, which was based on a report by the Moeel, Lah and Fakhoury Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).
Moeel, Lah and Fakhoury Limited Liability LLP is a litigation boutique located in San Francisco that represents individuals, businesses and institutions, according to its website.
Assistant city manager Lee Wilcox said the Independent Police Auditors’ (IPA) office oversees investigations relating to police misconduct allegations.
Assistant director of finance Luz Cofresí-Howe said the Independent Police Auditor has unfettered access to just about anything relating to police activity including body-worn camera footage, photographs, police reports and more.
Wilcox said the oversight process is based on the “Internal Affairs” model.
In the Internal Affairs model, the internal affairs department investigates alleged police misconduct alongside the Independent Police Auditor and Office of Employee Relations through sworn law enforcement personnel, according to a presentation by Wilcox and acting Independent Police Auditor Karyn Sinunu-Towery.
An Independent Police Auditor also examines investigations to ensure they are “complete, thorough, objective and fair” and the Office of Employee Relations focuses on violations outside of the normal train of command, according to the same source.
Wilcox also said police misconduct allegations can be further investigated by civilians, outside of the city’s police department. He said this is known as the “civilian oversight model.”
He said Moeel, Lah and Fakhoury LLP recommended the city to use a “hybrid model” for investigations into police conduct after analyzing the different models.
A hybrid model entails investigations being completed not only by sworn law enforcement personnel, but also professional civilian investigators who are independent of the police department, according to the same presentation.
“It (the hybrid model) really combined both the best of both worlds where we can rely on (the) training experience of police officers ... while the inclusion of civilians brought a certain level of independence outside of the normal chain of command,” Wilcox said.
Wilcox said the hybrid model requires the city to hire more staff members to work as Independent Police Auditors.
Councilmember Ortiz said the Independent Police Auditors have experienced ongoing trouble in witness interviews because they don’t have enough staff.
Cofresí-Howe said being able to attend interviews is one of the strongest tools the city has given them. However, she also said they have only been able to attend around 80% of interviews because of staffing shortages.
She said the overall system functions well, but they just don’t have enough staff.
“To have that additional auditor would really complete our toolbox,” CofresÍ-Howe said.
Katherine Alvarez, San José Police Officers’ Association vice president, said the Independent Police Auditors supports adding additional staff and other changes to assist them.
However, Alvarez also said getting rid of their internal affairs unit will only make matters worse.
“This is a solution in search of a problem and will have a chilling impact on our recruiting,” Alvarez said.
Steve Slack, president of the San José Police Officers’ Association, said the city’s police department is already struggling with recruiting new officers and keeping current ones.
Slack said the current police force is already overworked and introducing the hybrid model would create uncertainties around job security.
“There is no trust for private contractors to take over the important work that's performed by our dedicated internal affairs yet,” Slack said.
District 10 Councilmember Arjun Batra said the current model needs to be improved instead of completely changing it.
Batra said hiring new staff for the Independent Police Auditors is dependent on whether potential hires would be willing to take on a high level of responsibility.
“We're going to be asking that person to take a leap of faith, that the model (in) which we choose to work under would be the model that person is comfortable with and (they) may not really like to work for us,” Batra said.
Kemit Mawakana, housing department division manager, said he is on the public safety committee and that the Independent Police Auditor’s office has simply been taking the wrong approach and it is not necessarily going in the wrong direction.
Mawakana said it is too soon to make the decision to completely change the office.
“What I see us doing is making long-term decisions based on temporary hurt that the office is going through,” Mawakana said.
District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan said it's important that everyone supports the San José police department and continue encouraging the Independent Police Auditor’s office for their diligent work.
Doan said the police department is doing a great job and should have the trust and integrity they deserve.
“It doesn't mean that the IPA can't look at some of these complaints and reports, and dig into it and give it their recommendation,” Doan said. “It's important that while encouraging the best practice, we give our IPA a clear (expectations).”
