A long-running battle between the San Jose Police Union and city hall is heating up again.
The union is in the middle of contract negotiations with city hall and there are mayoral campaign implications. But, officers say the problem is beyond politics, claiming fatigue due to staffing.
“I’m looking at four hours of sleep per night when I come back to work the next day,” said a San Jose police officer who did not want to be identified.
They say they’re increasingly forcing them to work mandatory overtime because there aren’t enough beat cops to cover the next shift.
The fatigue among officers is real, especially for those who have to commute in from the Central Valley because they can’t afford the price of homes in the Bay Area.
“I had a one-hour and 15-minute commute home. On that drive, I ended up falling asleep and unfortunately got into a vehicle accident,” said another officer.
In a statement, the police department said mandatory overtime is a reality for its officers, and that "officer wellness is something they are always striving to improve. We encourage our Officers to reach out and communicate whatever issue they may be dealing with or need assistance navigating."
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The police union said the city needs to urgently hire more officers to right the ship. They say they are losing more burned out and frustrated officers to retirement or resignation than they have new officers coming in to replace them, or grow the ranks.
“There’s no question that departments throughout the country are struggling to hire right now,” said Mayor Sam Liccardo. “It’s a difficult time to be a police officer.”
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The mayor said officer recruitment took a hit nationwide after the George Floyd murder and the mayor concedes officer staffing levels are not where they should be right now.
“We’re still too small,” he said. “We’ve always had the smallest department per capita in the country for many, many years.”
However, he disputes some of the union claims about department pay and officer attrition rates.
But while city hall and the police union iron out their contract differences, beat cops say they can only handle so much of the mandatory overtime and they're headed for a breaking point.
“The exhaustion is just taking its toll. The camaraderie within the department, people are just walking around tired, forced to work longer than we signed up for,” said an officer.
