{"id":504513,"date":"2026-10-22T18:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T18:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/504513\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T18:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T18:56:11","slug":"san-joses-police-watchdog-report-shows-complaints-uses-of-force-increased","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/504513\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jos\u00e9\u2019s Police Watchdog Report Shows Complaints, Uses of Force Increased"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Jos\u00e9<\/a>\u2019s independent police auditor says its office continues to be \u201ckept in the dark\u201d when it comes to receiving critical information in the immediate aftermath of police shootings, due to a city and police directive barring the auditor from shooting scenes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a change since the beginning of the year, the auditor\u2019s office has altogether stopped sending staff to the places where investigations are happening after officers have fired their weapons because their \u201cpresence at the scene provides no meaningful additional information,\u201d Interim Independent Police Auditor Dwight White wrote in the office\u2019s annual oversight report for 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The annual report<\/a> was released this week, showing that complaints against officers steadily increased in 2024 and 2025 after dipping from 2021 through 2023, and that the number of times officers used force bumped up slightly over 2024.<\/p>\n

The report, which was presented to the City Council on Tuesday, includes a dozen\u00a0 recommendations from White\u2019s office on how the San Jos\u00e9 Police Department should improve its work, all of which the department agreed with or partially agreed to implement. But near the top of the report, White reiterated concerns about the exclusion from police shooting scenes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IPA is not granted access to the scene, nor does it have access to the briefing, or walkthrough. The IPA is kept in the dark and completely out of the process,\u201d the report said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"San Jos\u00e9 Mayor Matt Mahan speaks during a press conference on May 20, 2024, one day after the city\u2019s third police shooting of 2024.\u00a0(Joseph Geha\/KQED)<\/p>\n

San Jos\u00e9 Mayor Matt Mahan and the whole council, along with Police Chief Paul Joseph, citing concerns about the integrity of police investigation scenes, rejected former auditor Eddie Aubrey\u2019s recommendation to grant the office such access during an annual review last year.<\/p>\n

At the time, Aubrey<\/a> told the council that other major cities in the Bay Area and the state allow for that kind of real-time observation to ensure independent oversight is thorough, and told The Mercury News<\/a> he considered the recommendation \u201clow-hanging fruit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In an interview this week, White said the lack of access means San Jos\u00e9 is \u201ckind of lacking\u201d in contrast to cities such as San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and Long Beach, among others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure why that isn\u2019t the standard\u201d in San Jos\u00e9, White said. He noted his office simply gets a phone briefing from police officials under current practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can convince the city council that it\u2019s important to get access to the scene maybe next year or further down the road, we\u2019ll definitely look into those options,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Collectively, the delays and inconsistent information sharing hamper the ability of the auditor\u2019s office to closely review the \u201ccircumstances leading to the force, the actions of the officers and subject, or whether the investigation\u2019s factual and policy conclusions are supported by the evidence,\u201d the report said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among the recommendations from White\u2019s office are a call to implement a written policy requiring SJPD to provide the IPA\u2019s office with every completed investigation stemming from police seriously injuring or shooting someone within 30 days after the department has completed its review.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In response to the recommendation, Police Chief Paul Joseph told the council the department recently switched from \u201cpaper copies\u201d to new digital software for its internal affairs work, which has \u201csped up the processing of the information and the provision of that information to the IPA.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2025 overall, the city\u2019s police officers used force on people 598 times, an increase of about 5% over 2024, and the fourth consecutive annual increase after a low in 2021, the report said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Members of the San Jos\u00e9 City Council listen as San Jos\u00e9 Police Chief Paul Joseph speaks to the media during a Jan. 22, 2026, press conference about a police shooting downtown.\u00a0(Joseph Geha\/KQED)<\/p>\n

White\u2019s report showed that officers received 499 complaints overall in 2025, including complaints from community members, and those initiated by the department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of those complaints, 326 of them were from community members concerning an officer\u2019s conduct, continuing an upward trend from 263 in 2024, after a recent low of 224 in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis recent uptick could reflect renewed public concern, increased willingness to report, or emerging challenges in police-community interactions that warrant closer attention,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

A total of 370 officers on the force in 2025 received at least one complaint, or roughly 36% of active officers, which is an increase from 30% of officers in 2024 who received at least one complaint, and 27% who received a complaint in 2023. In 2022, about 33% of officers received at least one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One officer led the department with seven separate complaints during 2025, the report said. Four other officers had five complaints, and nine others had four complaints.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The large majority of the allegations, 74%, were characterized as \u201cunfounded,\u201d in which the evidence didn\u2019t support the claim, or \u201cexonerated,\u201d meaning the conduct likely happened, \u201cbut the police officer\u2019s actions were found to be within policy, highlighting the complexity of policing and the potential for misperception,\u201d the report said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The IPA\u2019s report also recommended the department should \u201cexplicitly prohibit the use of profanity or disparaging language as a routine control tactic.\u201d In four cases reviewed by the auditor\u2019s office, \u201cofficers repeatedly used profanity, especially variations of \u2018shut the fuck up\u2019 as a method they described as \u2018de-escalation\u2019,\u201d the report said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOfficers defended this language as a tactic to \u2018shock,\u2019 \u2018snap\u2019 or reassert control over individuals who were argumentative or talkative. That rationale itself is problematic. Profanity and disparaging language should not be treated as legitimate control techniques, especially when they escalate tension or serve no clear operational purpose,\u201d the report said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A police department memo said the current policy prohibits officers \u201cfrom using coarse, profane or derogatory language with a very narrow exception for \u201cwhen necessary to establish control during a violent or dangerous situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A San Jos\u00e9 Police Department squad car in San Jos\u00e9 on April 18, 2024.\u00a0(Martin do Nascimento\/KQED)<\/p>\n

Joseph, in his comments to the council, said a new policy isn\u2019t needed, because officers can be and already are disciplined for foul language in the wrong circumstances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not an approved standard de-escalation technique. There are rare occasions. And look, if an officer\u2019s going to swear at somebody and it\u2019s going to prevent them from using force, then you know what, I\u2019d rather have them do that,\u201d Joseph said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joseph declined an interview request for this story. He told the council many of the policy changes based on the recommendations were already being made and should be complete by February.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always trying to be better. We appreciate the IPA\u2019s partnership in making us better and holding us accountable,\u201d Joseph said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

White took over as the interim auditor following Aubrey\u2019s sudden and unexplained exit from the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aubrey, who was hired as the city\u2019s new IPA in May 2024, was placed on administrative leave with no explanation in August of this year. The city announced his retirement<\/a> the following week, without any statement from Aubrey, who also did not return calls or texts seeking comment.<\/p>\n

Aubrey was lauded as an experienced leader at the time of his appointment by the city council,\u00a0 which followed a period of tumult and staff turnover at the office, following the unexpected retirement of former auditor Shivaun Nurre in June 2023. She stepped down after getting into a verbal argument with a San Jos\u00e9 police officer at the San Jos\u00e9 Greek Festival while she was drunk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Jos\u00e9\u2019s independent police auditor says its office continues to be \u201ckept in the dark\u201d when it comes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":["post-504513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}