Save the San Jose Police Mounted Unit
Posted by admin | Posted in Police Business | Posted on 09-01-2010
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If interested in this topic, you can join 750+ members of a group on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=98444195476&ref=nf
“The mission of this page is for everyday, common, concerned citizens to speak out in favor of the San Jose Police Department Mounted Unit. The views on this page represent me, a citizen of San Jose, and other concerned citizens. It is a public domain, not any entity of the city! Members can share opinions, dialogue, photos, etc….
IT IS OUR GOD-GIVEN RIGHT AND RESPONSIBILITY TO PUSH OUR CITY GOVERNMENT TO DO THE RIGHT THING TO PROTECT AND SERVE THE CITIZENS OF THIS GREAT CITY!!”
Mounted Unit Important Update
Collateral: What exactly does that mean? Well, it can be defined in a number of ways: 1. Parallel 2. accompanying. 3. Serving to support or corroborate 4. Of a secondary nature.
Hmmm… If you ask me, “of a secondary nature” is exactly how the Police Department’s administration has defined the Mounted Unit based on what they recently told the members of the unit, not making it a priority at all.
Administration has decided to leave ONE sergeant and ONE police officer in the unit, while the rest of the officers go back to patrol with the option of being a part of the collateral unit only twice a month. The details of the collateral position have yet to be defined, yet officers on the unit have been told that in less than two months, they will be bidding for a shift change going back into patrol just like all other officers in the police department.
Not having this unit full time is both unjust to the officers and the horses. Horses are not like a vehicle, where you can park them and ride them whenever you “have a chance.” They need to be ridden every day, and consistently trained. What police administration is doing is preposterous!!
Basically, these are the beginning steps of completely disbanding the unit altogether, but without really telling us so! A year ago, the city promised to keep the Mounted Unit alive, and now they are not following through. There is obviously a lack of communication between the Police Department, City Council, and the City Manager. Where is the proof that the city is doing their part to maintain the MU intact?
We all know that the Mounted Unit increases personal contact with the community. Officers on horseback do this in a unique way. We all need to concentrate our efforts on contacting our city government (city council and city manager). Ultimately, it is them who will make the FINAL decision. We need to push City Administrators to make the right decision, since Police Administration is not!
Thank you for all your support. Please ACT now!! There is NO time to waste!
Contact your city leader today:
Mayor Chuck Reed 408-535-4800 mayormail@sanjoseca.gov
San Jose City Manager Debra Figone Debra.figone@sanjoseca.gov
Police Chief Rob Davis Rob.davis@sanjoseca.gov
District 1 Pete Constant 408-535-4901 district1@sanjoseca.gov
District 2 Ash Kaira 408-535-4902 district2@sanjoseca.gov
District 3 Sam Liccardo 408-535-4903 district3@sanjoseca.gov
District 4 Kansen Chu 408-535-4904 district4@sanjoseca.gov
District 5 Nora Campos 408-535-4905 district5@sanjoseca.gov
District 6 Pierluigi Oliverio 408-535-4906 Pierluigi.oliverio@sanjoseca.gov
District 7 Madison
Nguyen 408-535-4907 District7@sanjoseca.gov
District 8 Rose Herrera 408-535-4908 District8@sanjoseca.gov
District 9 Judy Chirco 408-535-4909 District9@sanjoseca.gov
District 10 Nancy Pyle 408-535-4910 District10@sanjoseca.gov
Interestingly while San Jose is considering getting rid of the horse unit, the military spec ops community discovered that they needed a horses unit for its fight in Afghanistan.
With the potential for use of nuke weapons and more specifically the use of Electro Magnetic Pulse EMP weapons, having a mounted unit may be a strategic advantage.
An EMP weapon detonated above the Continental US at an optimal altitude of about 33,000 AGL, will render many if not all ectronic devices in-operable. (Read autos with electronic ignition, communications etc.) The feds have spent a fortune protecting their vital infrastructure from an EMP stike.
Not a whacko here, just think SJPD should think strategically before it gets rid of a very useful unit.
What’s next to go? Damn helicopters cost bucks! The dogs eat a lot! Have you priced the bomb squad truck and equipment? Parks detail? Ain’t every park in a beat? We can cut those costs in half.
And how about Infernal Affairs? Well, OK, maybe expendable
.
Check out the 67 Specialized Units & Assignments and guess what our city “fathers” will forfeit next:
Administration Collateral Assignments
Air Support (Helicopter/Fixed Wing)
Airport Canine Unit
Airport Police
Anti-Terrorism Detail
Assaults Unit
Auto Theft Detail (vehicle crimes)
Backgrounds Unit
Bomb Squad
Burglary Unit
Canine Unit
City Attorney Investigator Detail
Community Svcs Collateral Assignments
Control Division
Court Liaison Unit
Crime & Evidence Control (warehouse)
Crime Prevention
Crime Scene Unit
Crisis Management Unit
DEA (Drug Task Force)
DowntownlEntertainment District (CMD)
Family Violence Unit
Field Operations Collateral Assignments
Field Training Program
Financial Crimes Unit (Fraud)
Gang Investigations Unit
Graffiti Abatement Unit
High Tech Unit
Homicide Unit
Information Center
Intelligence Unit
Internal Affairs
Investigations Collateral Assignments
Juvenile Unit
MERGE Unit (SWAT team)
Metro Unit (includes bicycle patrol)
Mounted Unit
Narcotics Covert Investigations Unit
Night General Detectives
Operations Support Division (Records Mgmt)
Parks Patrol Unit
Patrol
Performance Analysis Detail
Permits Unit
Police Activities League (PAL)
Police Artist
Police Personnel
Pre-Processing Center
Range
RATTF (Bay Area Auto Theft Task Force)
Recruiting Unit
Research & Development
Reserve Police Unit
Robbery Unit
School Liaison Unit
School Safety Unit
Secondary Employment Unit Gaming
Sexual Assaults Unit
SJ Police Officers’ Association Assignments
Systems Development
Technical Svcs Mgmt
Traffic Enforcement Unit
Traffic Investigations (vehicle crimes)
Training Unit
Truancy Abatement Detail
Under Cover/Decoy Collateral Assignments
VCET (Violent Crime Enforcement Team)
Vice Squad
Warrants/Fugitives Unit
this is scary, hope this doesn’t happen
Ron Martinelli emailed some great ideas!:
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Mounted Unit Assist
From: Code3law
Date: Mon, January 18, 2010 9:41 am
To: “Pyle Leroy (SJPD)”
Leroy:
I was both surprised and disappointed that the City of SJ is seriously considering dropping the Mounted Unit. Although I was never a member of that unit, I am a strong supporter of its presence in the department and the SJ community. As an SJPD alumni, I take great pride on our department and its enforcement components. This is just wrong!
Here are a couple of suggestions I have to save the unit. Let me know what you think.
1. Create a “Adopt the Mounted Unit” program where corporations and individuals can donate
money to sponsor the MU by: “adopting” a horse. This would be based on the “Save the Children”
faith based organizations concept of sponsoring children in other countries. Corps or people
could donate $$ to pay for a horse’s food/board for one week, one month, etc.
Create a snappy slogan such as “Mount up!” etc. with a nice, interesting logo (SJPD Mounted
Unit) and sell the sponsorship concept to businesses, horse organization and individuals. The MU
spent the majority of their time in downtown SJ, the fairgrounds, etc. Let’s see if downtown and
Silicone Valley corps, business, etc would be willing to donate to sponsor the MU.
2. Have the SJPOA , Keith Kelly and PBA do a couple of BBQ, chipino/seafood feeds to raise $$
3. Get Mike Amaral’s band to do a concert with a couple of other country western stars to raise $$
3. Get ahold of Clint Eastwood in Monterey County to see if he would be willing to donate $$ or do
an appearance to raise money. Clint loves cops and with his cops and cowboy movie background,
he would be perfect for this. BTW, I contacted him once when I was in Street Crimes and he showed
up to our rotation party in Carmel back in the 80’s.
4. Get the Blue Knights MC club to sponsor a ride to support the MU donation drive.
5. Do a “Iron Cop” mini-triathelon to raise $$ for the MU. People could sponsor a cop in the event;
for every mile completed.
6. As you know, my firm produces law enforcement training. I would be willing to donate my time
to produce an advanced law enforcement course, with all proceeds going to the MU fund, if one
is established. We have many excellent classes here that are cutting edge.
7. If anyone knows a good graphic artist, perhaps we could have them do a print of the MU, or a
officer on horseback for reproduction to raise money.
8. My wife owns a very successful print and promotional products franchise. My firm would be willing
to donate some $$ and I can talk my wife into making baseball caps, T-shirts, polos, challenge
coins, banners, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, decals, etc. with the SJPD/MU logo on them to
sell to raise $$.
In summary, the SJPD/MU is an important part of SJPD history. We cannot let this happen. If you find merit in these ideas, please feel free to pass it around, or publish it in the Farsider. I am sure that our members have even better ideas.
Warmest regards,
Ron, SJPD #1854 (Ret.)
Ron Martinelli, Ph.D., BCFT, CLS
Forensic Criminologist/Law Enforcement Consultant
NCCM Board Certified in Forensic Traumatology
AELE Certified Litigation Specialist – Police Practices
Federal/State Courts Police & Corrections Practices Expert
Martinelli & Associates: Justice & Forensic Consultants, Inc.
42143 Avenida Alvarado, Suite B-2
Temecula, CA 92590
Work: (951) 719-1450
Fax: (334) 460-6175
http://www.jurispro.com/ronmartinelli
http://www.policepracticesexpert.net
MY MOST RECENT EMAIL TO CITY OFFICIALS
January 25, 2010
Elected Officials and City Management,
As a citizen of San Jose I am inquiring formally through this e-mail the status of the San Jose Police Mounted Unit. It is imperative that the city management be open to the public about future cuts to our police department. Since 2009, the Horse Mounted Unit, has been considered a burden to the city budget and now on the forefront of cuts. Now, we have learned that Police Administration has decided to abolish the unit as a full-time unit and make it a collateral unit.
Collateral? What exactly does that mean? Well, it can be defined in a number of ways: 1. Parallel 2. accompanying. 3. Serving to support or corroborate 4. Of a secondary nature. If you ask me, “of a secondary nature” is exactly how the Police Department’s administration has defined the Mounted Unit based on what they recently told the members of the unit, not making it a priority at all.
According to the administration, it has decided to leave ONE sergeant and ONE police officer in the unit, while the rest of the officers go back to patrol with the option of being a part of the collateral unit only twice a month. The details of the collateral position have yet to be defined, yet officers on the unit have been told that in less than two months, they will be bidding for a shift change going back into patrol just like all the other officers in the police department.
Not having this unit full-time is both unjust to the officers and the horses. Horses are not like a vehicle, where you can park them and ride them whenever you “have a chance.” They need to be ridden every day, and consistently trained. What the police administration is doing is preposterous! Not only does this pose a danger to the citizens, but also to the officers, and to the mounts.
Furthermore, we all know that the Mounted Unit increases personal contact with the community. Officers on horseback do this in a unique way. Let me remind you of the effectiveness of having a FULL-time Mounted Unit. They patrol the city, conduct school presentations, provide dignitary security, participate in special ceremonies, and are a vital tool during crowd-control situations. Simply put, the city of San Jose cannot afford to lose the only unit in the Police Department that provides positive public relations.
In my humble opinion, these are the beginning steps of completely disbanding the unit altogether, but without really telling the public! There is obviously a lack of communication between the Police Department, City Council, the City Manager, and ultimately the citizens of San Jose. In 2009, the Mayor recommended to the City Manager that she work with the community to maintain the unit. Where is the evidence? As our elected city leaders, it is your responsibility to make the right decision for the citizens by keeping the Horse Mounted Unit intact. I realize that as city leaders, you have the authority to tell Police Management to reverse their decision. This would be in accordance to the desires of the citizens of San Jose.
I am respectfully requesting a formal document from City officials expressing the city’s commitment to maintaining the Horse Mounted Unit as a FULL-time Unit. I believe that this is the best way to fulfill the city’s promise to being open to the public about its decisions.
Respectfully yours,
Daniela Ortiz
My email to City Manager: read the below listed post on Facebook and was disturbed by the content. It seems like your background from small city politics may be showing. San Jose is the 9th biggest city in the country. The police need to be equipped to protect themselves and the citizens and property.
I have knowledge of how valuable the Police Horse is. I spent 6 years working with the police horse in downtown San Jose. If you have never experienced taking rocks and bottles thrown at you for 20 minutes then you are not qualified to make this decision to cut this unit. I have witnessed a hostile crowd of 300,000 set on destroying property (that some did) and hurting people. I have witnessed scared fathers shielding their young children from the crowd. I have witnessed the protection the horse gives to police and citizens and with minimal use of force. All done in a quick manor that saved things from being a lot worse. The Officer on horseback can not be replaced in a crowd control situation. It takes 8-10 more officers to do what one mounted officer can do. Taking the mounted unit away from the police will cause future property damage, more injuries to citizens and police, more use of force complaints from those who do not like the police.
Any questions please feel to contact me or the Friends of the SJPD Mounted Unit