Thread: San Jose,CA - Police Not Targeting Latinos for Drunkenness

SAN JOSE CHIEF DEFENDS POLICE HANDLING OF SUSPECTED DRUNKS
By Sean Webby

Mercury News

Article Launched: 10/30/2008 02:41:17 PM PDT



San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis insisted Thursday that police were not treating dangerously drunk people differently than other places, nor were they targeting Latinos.

"We are within the norm," the chief said, after a news conference where he was flanked by the mayor and Latino community leaders.

But Davis acknowledged that other cities throughout the state are diverting suspects they arrest on suspicion of being drunk in public into sobering centers, rather than prosecuting them, as is done in San Jose. The news conference follows a Mercury News article last week that reported San Jose police arrested more people who were charged with public drunkenness than any other agency in the state, according to the Attorney General's Office. The charges are highly discretionary — no test is given, and the arrest is largely up to the officer to determine whether a suspect appears drunk.

More than 57 percent of those arrested in San Jose are Hispanic, figures compiled by the state attorney general show, even though Hispanics make up only 32 percent of the city's population.

That disparity is strikingly higher than elsewhere in the state; roughly 36 percent of the state's population is Hispanic, and 37 percent of those arrested statewide for public drunkenness were listed as Hispanic in state statistics.

Davis insisted that the police target illegal behavior — not Hispanics, and said — despite the state statiscs -- that the ethnic background of those arrested was matched in many other cities.

But the difference has caused deep concern throughout the Hispanic community, prompting the news conference at which Davis, Mayor Chuck Reed, Vice Mayor David Cortese and leaders of the La Raza Roundtable organization agreed to examine ways that the city enforces the state law on public drunkenness.

Reed said the city council will be holding a public hearing on the arrest practices in coming weeks. "It's not just about the statistics," Reed said. "It's about whether arresting people and prosecuting them may not be the best way to deal with public drunkenness. If people are feeling persecuted, that concerns us."

The mayor said the city would consider other ways to deal with public drunkenness, including reopening the sobering station, which was closed four years ago.

Davis' assurances that the department's arrest practices were "something we are finding across the state" were met with skepticism from several community members who attended the news conference and felt the city was too quick to blame the conduct of offenders.

"You are going to explore how to change the behavior of the community, but what ideas are you going to explore that will change the behavior of the police department?" asked Raj Jayadev, a community activist, who related one conversation in which he said an officer defined public intoxication as suspects who annoy police officers.

He was among those who appeared unconvinced that Davis and city leaders understood that the department may be misusing the law and arresting innocent people. The city is facing a federal lawsuit, filed last month by three men who said they were wrongly charged with public drunkenness.

Davis said he would consider enhancing officer training. But he also said that 60 percent of the public intoxication arrests were responses to complaints, which he said suggested that the arrests were not arbitrary.

The police decide which cases to refer to the district attorney, whose office formally files charges. In San Jose, almost all public drunkenness suspects are charged; many are offered their freedom, after a night in jail, if they plead guilty to the misdemeanor. Some prosecutors and judges have complained that the charges overload the court system locally.

Reed and Davis defended the police, while at the same time saying they want to work with community members to address the concerns.

La Raza chief Victor Garza, who hosted the news conference, announced his group was organizing a summit to consider issues involving police interactions with Latinos, including arrests for public drunkenness. Garza said the summit is one of several measures he is planning to address the problem.

But some community leaders expressed concern that they were left out of the discussions, characterizing the talks between city officials and La Raza Roundtable as a backroom deal.

City Councilwoman Nora Campos, who was not at the meeting, said she still had many unanswered questions about the matter and the process to determine whether change was needed.

"I am concerned by the fact that the mayor did not take an inclusive approach by inviting all interested stakeholders to the table to discuss a matter that affects the entire city," Campos said. "By not having a public process you are sending a message that our city's commitment to transparency and open government is being bypassed."

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10857882? ... D3D02.html

Oh yes, by all means.....let's not arrest drunks who pose a danger to themselves or others.

Let's spend tax payer funds to build "sobering centers" where they are taken to sleep if off, and spend additional tax payers fund for the required security, medical staff, cleaning crews, bio-hazard removal, and everything else which will be needed.

The jails already have all of those things in place which is why it makes sense to send them THERE. They don't need some specialized latino Drunks R Us Daycare.

Got that right, az. Jail is where they belong, but these are no longer the days of Andy Griffith, where the town drunk would stagger in and sleep it off in a cell. I think our jails are so overcrowded there is no room for drunks.

The jails already have all of those things in place which is why it makes sense to send them THERE. They don't need some specialized latino Drunks R Us Daycare.

LOL.....I had to laugh.....but it's what it sounds like. Then good ole Otis came to mind from Mayberry.......what about all the non-latino drunks that are locked away right now for doing the same thing? They are already letting the latinos slide a great deal here with domestic violence even when alcohol or drugs are involved. Be non-latino and see the book thrown at you. Mandatory alcohol classes, AA, therapy and fines out the ying-yang. Nothing seems to happen to them until someone is killed.

But the difference has caused deep concern throughout the Hispanic community, prompting the news conference at which Davis, Mayor Chuck Reed, Vice Mayor David Cortese and leaders of the La Raza Roundtable organization agreed to examine ways that the city enforces the state law on public drunkenness.

Give me a break. the "LaRaza Roundtable". Does this creepy organization REALLY think that Hispanics should be treated any differently than any other DRUNK? Everyone knows there is a high incidence of alcohol abuse among Hispanics. If they are who is getting caught the most then thats just the way it is.

Originally Posted by butterbean

But the difference has caused deep concern throughout the Hispanic community, prompting the news conference at which Davis, Mayor Chuck Reed, Vice Mayor David Cortese and leaders of the La Raza Roundtable organization agreed to examine ways that the city enforces the state law on public drunkenness.

Give me a break. the "LaRaza Roundtable". Does this creepy organization REALLY think that Hispanics should be treated any differently than any other DRUNK? Everyone knows there is a high incidence of alcohol abuse among Hispanics. If they are who is getting caught the most then thats just the way it is.

I actually do believe la raza expects hispanics to be treated differently than everyone else, hence the name, LA RAZA = THE RACE!