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SAN JOSE — San Jose police want to hear residents’ real, no-holds-barred feelings about how officers are patrolling city streets and dealing with the community.
All residents need to do is text.
“We want to be smack dab in communities affected by not only crime, but relationships with law enforcement,” said Chief Eddie Garcia, who along with dozens of SJPD officers met with more than 100 residents of the tight-knit working-class Washington neighborhood Monday night.
Monday’s gathering was the first of a planned series of community forums — dubbed “Working Together For Stronger Communities” — aimed at building trust amid a national cloud of police skepticism and deportation fears that have driven some worried residents into the shadows.
At Monday’s event, the department rolled out textmy90.com — a service designed to allow residents to send police anonymous text messages with tips, complaints and other feedback. It also functions as a type of polling service, culling responses to police surveys to offer community opinions almost instantaneously.
To test the service, police department asked residents to tap away on their smartphones to rate the trustworthiness of SJPD. The results arrived within a minute: 58.2 percent rated the department as “very trustworthy,” 31.9 percent chose “somewhat trustworthy,” 8 percent went with “somewhat untrustworthy,” 1.9 percent said “very untrustworthy.”
“We want their honesty. It’s the only way to get better. We heard their frustrations, but we also heard a massive amount of appreciation,” Garcia said.
Monday’s forum, funded by the Silicon Valley Community and SJPD foundations, was publicized in the neighborhood with word-of-mouth spurring local turnout.
Other survey questions revolved around residents’ feeling of safety, perceptions of police bias, and their past encounters with police. Some key breakdowns:
- Satisfaction with last encounter with SJPD: very satisfied, 64 percent; somewhat satisfied, 20.2 percent; somewhat dissatisfied, 7 percent; very dissatisfied, 3 percent
- How safe you felt during that police interaction: very safe, 74.3 percent; somewhat safe, 17.6 percent; somewhat unsafe, 4 percent; very unsafe, 4 percent
- How safe you feel in your neighborhood: very safe, 26.8 percent; somewhat safe, 48.8 percent; somewhat unsafe, 17.1 percent; very unsafe, 7.3 percent
- Do you feel there is a perception of bias in SJPD stops: strong perception, 19.7 percent; somewhat of a perception, 23.9 percent; some but not wide perception, 29.6 percent; no perception, 26.8 percent
Garcia said while he believes the Monday evening sample indicates a good relationship with residents, the department still needs to work on bolstering its image with residents who responded more negatively.
“Those are the numbers we want to improve,” he said. “We’re always in search of perfection. But we want the community to know we’re not sitting on our hands.”
He referenced a survey question asking residents what they thought police should do to improve their community ties. Nearly half selected “walk around and talk to people who live here.” The chief agrees.
“They want to have more positive interactions with us,” Garcia said. “The first time they see an officer can’t be in a moment of crisis.”
The real-time survey served as fuel for small-group discussions that matched residents with police officers, community leaders and in some cases elected officials.
Residents welcomed the low-key, conversational setting and valued the face-to-face time with officers outside that did not involve an arrest or tense police encounter.
“It’s important for the police department to come out and engage with the community,” said Martha Carrasco. “The perception is that they are not available to regular residents. This shows they’re willing to work with us.”
The service’s touted anonymity appeared to be a selling point for the residents, who seemed more comfortable communicating on their mobile devices.
“People in the meeting were more engaged” said Carrasco of the my90 component. “They didn’t have to worry about having a spotlight on them.”
Garcia said the department is hopeful that the anonymous texting feature of the service will alleviate residents’ fears of reporting crimes. He stressed that my90 operates independently of the police departments it works with, and that SJPD has no access to its personal data. The service asserts that phone numbers are encrypted when it receives text messages.
“We’ve got to get that information, and those who have a fear of law enforcement can feel safe,” he said.
The evening’s sole moment of tension came from a question related to the fatal officer-involved shooting last September of Jacob Dominguez, who was being sought by police for a drive-by shooting but was unarmed when he was killed. Dominguez’s family has steadily protested the police use of force, and the resident who asked the question wanted to know the directive of the Covert Response Unit.
Garcia addressed the question by prefacing he could not go into detail, citing the ongoing investigation, but said he and the department “have empathy for all involved.”
The chief also reiterated remarks he has made in numerous churches in the city over the past few weeks, assuring minority communities that SJPD does not work with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agencies, a longstanding policy aimed at encouraging residents in immigrant neighborhoods to report crimes to police.
“We want to make sure all our community is safe, (including) those who are documented and undocumented,” Garcia said.
Along with police, representatives from a host of city services attended to offer resources and insight on issues from homelessness, housing and code enforcement to renters assistance and abandoned vehicles.
“I feel a lot of support,” said Maria Marcelo, a Washington resident and founder of Mamas Unidas. “We really need to start here to make change.”
Near the end of the evening, the my90 question prompt asked attendees if they felt like the forum improved the relationship between the community and police.
The results were quickly in: “Strongly agree” and “somewhat agree” garnered 97.7 percent of the vote.
ENROLL IN MY90 TIP SERVICE
To join the my90 service allowing anonymous tips and feedback to the San Jose Police Department, text the word “SJPD” to the phone number 72803. Message and data rates may apply.
