San Jose Hopes to Block Release of Incoming Police Chief’s Emails

UPDATE: San Jose’s Rules and Open Government Committee on a 4-0 vote approved San Jose Inside’s appeal to release Asst. Chief Eddie Garcia’s emails, after a review for redactions is completed.

The same day San Jose Police Chief Larry Esquivel announced he will retire at the beginning of next year, the city tabbed Eddie Garcia as next in line. It wasn't much of a surprise, as San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has been grooming the assistant chief for the job, despite several instances of unprofessional behavior over the last year.

In January, San Jose Inside published a report that showed the department’s chief and top command staff—especially Garcia—routinely used their city email accounts to laugh behind their civilian bosses’ backs, vent frustration and scoff at gift policies they violated. The chief and his top deputies also partook in a little gallows humor at the expense of an injured crime victim who doubled as a drug-peddling idiot.

Now the city is attempting to block the release of hundreds of additional emails Garcia sent and received using his city email account.

A week after Esquivel said he would retire in January and City Manager Norberto Dueñas announced he would appoint Garcia to interim chief, San Jose Inside requested Garcia emails that were left out of an initial request.

A day later, July 30, the department denied the request, arguing that emails Garcia sent using his city email account, even when on city time, do not relate in any way “to the conduct of the public’s business.”

The department added, “Moreover, even if one were to assume that the e-mails constituted public records, these personal e-mails would be exempt from public disclosure under Government Code Section 6255 because the public interest served by not disclosing the personal e-mails clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of these records since the records do not contain any information relating to the conduct of the public’s business.”

San Jose Inside has appealed this interpretation of the law, and the matter will go before the city’s Rules and Open Government Committee on Wednesday. The decision that body makes this week could be a bellwether of how committed the Liccardo administration is to continuing predecessor Mayor Chuck Reed’s initiatives on sunshine and transparency.

In a memo recommending San Jose Inside’s appeal be denied, communications director David Vossbrink reiterates SJPD’s arguments. But past emails, as well as Vossbrink’s own memo, show the city has been inconsistent in how it interprets rules on public records.

San Jose Inside argued in its appeal that “these emails are related to the conduct of the public's business, because they were sent and received using public resources (computers, internet connections, servers, email systems, etc.) and they were sent and received while Asst. Chief Garcia was being paid to conduct public business.

“All of these emails relate to the public interest because it educates citizens and elected officials about the way a top manager of the city uses his time when he is on the clock. The cost and efficiency of police services has been the preeminent issue in the city of San Jose of the past decade. It has been the subject of numerous council meetings, study session and elections; therefore, it is a matter of widespread interest to the citizens of San Jose. No issue is more important than public safety.”

To reinforce this point, San Jose Inside is today releasing several emails that were not included in a previous report, which show that city’s definition of “personal” emails has changed when it suits its purposes.

‘GETTING PRESSED’

The delineation between work and personal emails gets a little fuzzy when a council member doubles as a mayoral candidate.

A little more than two months before the November 2014 election, the stakes couldn’t have been higher for Sam Liccardo. In addition to representing downtown’s District 3 as a councilman, he was also in a dead heat for the mayor’s race with Dave Cortese, who had substantial support from public safety unions.

On the morning of Aug. 29, 2014, Liccardo sent an email asking Garcia if they could talk later that day because he was “getting pressed” by the Vietnamese media for an explanation on why so few officers could speak the language. Liccardo’s ability to woo Vietnamese voters turned out to be one of the key reasons he was able to edge Cortese in the runoff election.

“I’m getting pressed by one outlet now, and I'd like to be able to say truthfully that we're doing something about it,” Liccardo wrote.

Liccardo-Garcia-Pressed-Media

 

Considering that Garcia did not report to Liccardo, any assistance he would have provided to the council member/mayoral candidate could be seen as a political favor—one that might be remembered when Esquivel, a 30-year veteran of the force, would retire.

This email, however, was classified as city business in response to San Jose Inside’s prior records request. It's also worth noting that Liccardo used his personal Gmail account, which raises a whole other discussion about transparency and how the current mayor and council conduct city business.

‘HEY BRO’

The maturity exhibited by Garcia is one of the biggest concerns sources have had about him leading SJPD. In previously published emails, he wrote things like:

  • “Geeeezus!!!! Can he let us work thru this!!!!”
  • “Bro….. I’m kinda speechless. They are terrible.”
  • “We're going to reprimand staff no less than weekly, for something that isn't occurring????!!!!!! Terrible way to lead..”

All of these were in reference to the city manager’s office, which is the department Garcia would have to report to as chief.

Bro culture has not been limited to Garcia, though. It also apparently extends to one of the San Jose Police Department’s best-trained media pets.

On April 10 of last year, NBC Bay Area reporter Damian Trujillo sent a message to Garcia with the innocuous subject line “email.” The message, however, is laden with ethical breaches, as Trujillo not only invites the assistant police chief, a.k.a. his “bro,” to come over to his “pad” for beers, but also notes that Garcia has “been silent” on him lately, which is basically code for not feeding him good information.

Perhaps in an effort to jumpstart the relationship, Trujillo—in addition to plying Garcia with free beers—sells out an insider tip from a lower-level officer.

Here is the unedited message in full:

Hey bro-

Been silent on me lately. Come over for some beers next Satruday at my pad.

FYI, got this message but I know its more venting than anything. But felt I should pass it along.

So a developing story in the officers ranks. Two SJPD officers received DUI awards for outstanding service one got 50+ and one got 30+ DUIs .... Several hundred officers and deputies were there to congratulate them. The story is no command staff was there to acknowledge the SJPD officers. With morale lower then the bottom of a rock, this does not sit well. The command staff obviously set a message that DUI arrest are just not important. Or maybe they are saying the officers are not important.

Damian-Trujillo-bro-pad-beers-tip

GLORY DAYS

The city and SJPD’s biggest hesitation in releasing more of Garcia’s emails most likely doesn’t have anything to do with leaking information to reporters, or vice versa. It could be he’s spending his too many work hours thinking about high school glory days.

In an email, which goes back to the summer of 2013, Garcia fired off a 699-word defense of the Cambrian Valley youth football league. The email is mostly just a dad-coach thumping his chest, preaching football platitudes and arguing that kids should be able to play in whatever league they want. But it’s notable that Garcia mentioned he is a police officer in an email to two men who run another league, and he decided to use his work email, which includes an electronic signature that notes he is the acting assistant chief of police. That could be construed as a little intimidating to a youth sports adversary.

On two different days in October of last year, Garcia also sent an email to Police Chief Larry Esquivel and Lt. Michael Sullivan, telling both of them to check out a prep football highlight. In the video, Garcia’s son scores a nice 31-yard touchdown run. Running a sweep left, he spins back inside to avoid some arm tackles before sprinting up the middle of the field and barreling over the goal line. It’s a nice play, but somehow these emails were also considered city business in SJI’s last request for records.

What is perhaps the biggest hole in the city’s reasoning for denying a chance to review Garcia’s emails—messages that will show not only the character of the next chief but also how he spends his work days—is that the department didn’t attempt to block the records from becoming public until just recently.

The original request for Garcia’s emails was made by a non-journalist. San Jose Inside was alerted to this request and asked to have access to the same emails that were provided. In an email from SJPD’s records manager Kara Capaldo, it was noted that the person requesting records did not want personal emails, which is why they weren't provided.

This person told San Jose Inside in January that she “was also told there were over 400 personal emails to or from Chief Garcia, most relating to his coaching football. Using City email for anything other than City business is also a violation of city policy. I did not want to pay for those emails so do not have copies of them.”

This is wholly different than what the city is now saying—that the records were not provided because they were exempt due to government codes. It appears SJPD and city officials, knowing its next chief spends time on the clock writing emails about his sons’ football teams, is simply trying to move the goalpost.

Josh Koehn is a former managing editor for San Jose Inside and Metro Silicon Valley.

32 Comments

  1. “The department added, “Moreover, even if one were to assume that the e-mails constituted public records, these personal e-mails would be exempt from public disclosure under Government Code Section 6255 because the public interest served by not disclosing the personal e-mails clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of these records since the records do not contain any information relating to the conduct of the public’s business.”

    JK: You have presented an excellant argument. Personal e-mails ARE a matter of the Public’s concern when; composed, written and sent on city time and using city resources. The only defenses the city should have asserted is… the e-mails in question are protected under the “deliberative process” and or a “work product” of the aforementioned. But, the city has not asserted these affirmative defenses. Instead the city asserted the most “vague and ambiguous” defense; Government Code Section 6255 which materrially undermines the issue(s) at bar.

    It will be good to hear your presentation at the “House of RULES and Open GOVERNMENT” this Wednesday.

    I have already filled out the yellow “CITIZEN’S REQUEST TO SPEAK” card-Item (I).

    David S. Wall

  2. Josh,

    Your blatant hypocrisy must be of no concern to your sense of journalistic integrity.

    Where was this investigative fervor when Reed, Figone, Gurza and Schembri were busy spinning facts and numbers so they could lie to the public in order to avoid negotiating with the city’s Unions?

    Instead, you’ve decided your gallant pursuit of “sunshine” will be defined by exposing Eddie Garcia’s off topic e-mails?? Bravo. Great work there. You get that e-mail wasting, pre-season football ticket using guy who’s risked his life for this city.. Yeah! Justice for Josh Koehn!

    What seems to have motivated you to channel your inner Joseph McCarthy?…

  3. Josh in the interest of fairness to to take steps towards rehabilitating your integrity and professional ethics please save someone with to much time on his/her hands the trouble of filing FOIA for release all emails you have exchanged with all members of San Jose’s City Government and their significant others. Let’s start with IPA’s Attard and Cordell and their staffers, Chuck Reed, Sam Liccardo, PL Oliverio, Rose Jesse-Herrera, Vic Ajlouny, Johnny Khamis, Madison Nguyen, Richard Doyle Esq, Debra Figone, Alex Gurza…

    Anyone who cares can already review your juvenile editorializing tweets…

  4. Speaking of Sunshine and campaign laws… The ones gReed and Sham Lie-car-doh wrote up. Turns out pretty much all of our “elected” broke them.

    It appears these rules only make for lazy faux-investigative journalism… Make some requests, editorialize, become outraged and write a sensational article. This kind of journalism is akin to the default media these days; wait for the government to provide a press release and inspect it for errors.

    Here’s an idea, Josh… Go out and talk to crime victims. Show up at crime scenes and speak with witnesses. Dig up a real story, not something spoon-fed for you to blandly “report.”

    I have a strong feeling you’ll find SJPD does an outstanding job and you’ll be hard-pressed to find any kind of controversy or real scandal. You reporters are afraid of hard work. It must be rough sitting behind that desk all day, putting in requests for other people to do work for you.

    • If work on the clock for City employees is only 10% productivity, then what’s the big deal if the Chef is doing his job. The 90% is spent on “chisme”, football, water cooler conversations, and social media.

  5. We can stumble upon someone’s faults, troubles can hit us in the face, or, in the case of this article, we can go on a hunt for the smallest scrap of clues that we beg, pray, and hope will lead us to the conclusion that someone is not fit for a job. That is what Koehn has done here. He has scrimped together a laughable list of examples of why Eddie Garcia is not fit for San Jose Police’s next Chief and in the process, has embarrassed himself.

    The word: “Bro”? Wow, what a huge problem. Gee, if anyone in the professional world uses that slang word to address another professional, he is exhibiting signs of incompetency and immaturity. Our own President has used this term to address UK Prime Minister Cameron. When asked, Obama defined “bro” as “indispensable partner”. Check out the link here for some valuable insight into the mysterious “bro” slang. http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/politics/2015/01/16/21874113/
    Indispensable partner as a facet of the description of the slang word “bro” sounds good to me, especially when you are relating to city leaders. Isn’t it a good thing when they are partners and able to work well together? Wouldn’t the city benefit from peaceful leadership and unified think tanks?

    Thinking about “High School Glory Days”? Maybe not for Koehn. I take it Koehn never had any awesome football plays to boast of in his own personal “glory days”. Sure, Garcia could have sent the email from his personal email, and this “checkbox” would have remained empty. No one would be worse for wear either, considering the email, with link, probably took Eddie five minutes to compose and send. Oh, what a wasteful five minutes. I think we spend five minutes making a cup of coffee. So perhaps we can disallow Garcia one less cup of coffee on the days he sends a personal note from his city email. Do you see where I am going here? Why is this fit for examination? If there was excessive use of the email throughout the day for personal issues, where it is occupying large amounts of city time, then you can validate the finger pointing. The alleged number of “400” is over what sort of period? One year? Two years? Koehn cites one email that “goes back to the summer of 2013” so he reached back two and a half years for this. Lets take two and a half years, so that is approximately 912 days. He sent the supposed “400” personal emails, which you can bet a lot of the 400 were a part of a string with brief replies to recipients (as we all know we do) within 912 days. So that breaks down to ONE personal email, every 2.28 days. Considering all the official emails he likely sends out in a single day, that is an incredibly low percentage of personal email sent from city email! The fact that this was brought to the table is childish and petty. Tell me how would this be indicative of someone’s character? Can you truly say there is one person out there who hasn’t sent an email regarding a personal issue while they were at work? Whether sent from business or personal email, it is still personal business conducted on the clock. Find me someone please, who has never done this.

    Moving on. “Getting pressed”… Hmm. You can angle this one any way you want, hankering for that stamp of “political favor”, but lets see it for the simplicity of what it is. We network for resources and leads. One contact often leads to another. Numerous resources provide valuable ways to extract information and outlooks from different knowledgeable sources. Politics aside, the intentions were good. Liccardo’s email shows his honest effort to show the Vietnamese community that he was and/or would be doing something about it. His inquiry to Garcia goes back to the old “bro” definition, that Obama so eloquently put it: “indispensible partner”. Why would you not consult and indispensible partner for problem solving? Liccardo’s exact words were, “I would like to be able to say truthfully that we’re doing something about it. Let me know your thoughts, particularly if I’m missing something here.” That whole email incident doesn’t sound shady to me. He reached out to another knowledgeable person in a leadership position that might be able to offer insight or another perspective on a sensitive issue. This is pretty deep digging going on.

    Bottom line, at times, we all can exhibit what might be labeled as unprofessional behavior by those critics out there. Even the best of us may falter, but it doesn’t take away from the overall competency and skill of an individual. If this decision to use city email for personal business here and there has any unprofessional weight, it doesn’t take a sliver of competency and qualification away from Eddie Garcia as the city’s next Chief. The immense positive contributions he has given to the department and the City of San Jose are what counts. The main aim of this article was to drum up this tiresome city email issue and the omission of Garcia’s personal collection from the inclusion as a checkmark of character. That’s quite a reach. I mean, really bro?

    • Well said Sara! When I think email problems, I think Hillary. I wonder why this second rate writer wouldn’t focus his media matters in her direction?

  6. Wow! If we change the names around to Hillary, and server, and private Email, and national security, who would of you change positions?

    If it were all sent by letter through the post office is that open or private business?
    Who shall be the thought Police, Police?
    Who of you would like the news media noodling through your E mail, or snail mail?

    • Empty Gun asks: “If it were all sent by letter through the post office is that open or private business?” The answer is “yes,” if the letter was written while Mr. Garcia was on the job using SJPD pen, paper, and postage. Empty goes on to ask: “Who of you would like the news media noodling through your E mail, or snail mail?” I’d expect the answer to be no-one. But we’re not public employees. Certain of one’s rights are limited if a person is in the military or is a public employee.

  7. A lot of Eddie defenders here but, I gotta side with JK.

    The entire concept of a “Public Employee” is everything they do is recorded and documented for the public to see. Mr Garcia could have just as easily maintained any number of “free” email services (hotmail, gmail, yahoo, etc) but instead chose to conduct emails of a personal nature on a system designed for his “Public Employment”

    The weight of what Mr.Garcia did though is negligible. Was it even worth a whole records request to bring to light Garcia’s love of Bellermine football? I’d say no. It doesn’t bother me as a taxpayer one bit. The actual cost of emails are $0.00001. Even if all the employees of San Jose sent out Bell luvin professing emails, the cost wouldn’t bother me.

    So Josh, you win on a technicality, but I don’t think this was worth an article.

  8. Josh, I guess you never had a beer with one of your Bro’s? ( The city needs more cops and fewer reporters )

    I worked with Chief Garcia, he’s a good dude! and one of my Bro’s.

    Rick Martinez, Retired SJPD

  9. Following Hillary’s lead, just unilaterally select those e-mails you deem to be fit for public consumption, print them out single sided, double spaced, large font on a dot matrix printer with a failing ink cartridge, box them up and wipe the server. The voters here will forgive you.

  10. The motivation for making a California Public Records Act (CPRA) request is irrelevant and immaterial to whether the requested documents are exempt from disclosure under the CPRA. Gov. Code §6257.5. I’ll assume it is SJI’s/Josh’s anti-police bias that motivated the CPRA request, to be used to embarrass the Interim Chief. But that makes zero difference under the law, and is never a proper consideration in the decision whether to release the documents or to withhold the documents. Case law has established that under the CPRA disclosure is the rule, and claims of exemption from disclosure are strictly construed against the agency objecting to disclosure. Despite the fact that this will probably turn out to be a tempest in a teapot, the principle involved is quite important. The bald assertion about the public interest stated in the declination to release the emails stands the rule on its head and is completely bogus. There is no public interest served by refusal to disclose the Interim Chief’s emails using his city email account, and there is a considerable public interest served by disclosure of those emails. The public has a right to know what a public employee is doing on work time paid by the taxpayers while using work equipment paid for by the taxpayers, irrespective of the triviality of the time spent or resources used. The public also has a right to know with whom a public employee is communicating via email on his city email account. “The decision that body makes this week could be a bellwether of how committed the Liccardo administration is to continuing predecessor Mayor Chuck Reed’s initiatives on sunshine and transparency.” Admit it, Josh, Chuck was more talk than action when it came to sunshine and transparency. If it is against policy to use the city email account for personal reasons—such as touting you son’s football exploits—then why hasn’t this been investigated? Oh yeah, Mr. Garcia is the top guy now, so who would conduct the investigation, the AG? Sara Johnson asks Josh: “Can you truly say there is one person out there who hasn’t sent an email regarding a personal issue while they were at work?” Well, we know Cousin Cortese sends lots of his posts to SJI on company time, but neither he nor Josh are public employees. Is Ms. Johnson seeking a position as Garcia’s head flack? This isn’t about whether Mr. Garcia is a good guy or a good cop. Until it is proven to the contrary, I assume that he is both. This is about the very important principle that the public has an absolute right to know what a public employee says and does while on the job and while using public resources.

  11. SJPD is completely corrupt and Rosen isn’t gonna protect them anymore with his criminal investigative staff of SJPD retired’s and their DUI family members. If Rosen wants to run for Attorney General he has to make up for his “Exonerations” and his Cupertino De Anza College baseball team cover up. Thank god for Rosen cause everybody walked after he said “I’m a Jew who knows what injustice is”. He even had to move out of county due to threats.

    Four murders in 9 days and a protocol of Rosen’s “Just say you were in fear for your life” and “He reached for his waist band” and “He made a furtive movement” and I’ll bury it for 6 months and “Exonerate you Santa Clara PD, Sunnyvale PD and SJPD. Don’t you incompetents understand that you have frightened the San Jose and other City’s public. Your heading for a consent degree and if that happens Rosen the “Exonerator” is through politically and will probably have to move out of state and chase ambulances for a living.

    A retired high-ranking Los Angeles County sheriff’s official pleaded guilty today to lying under oath.

    He is the latest to fall in a jail scandal that has resulted in several convictions for obstructing a federal investigation and using excessive force.

    Your next SCPD, SPD and SJPD. Better all retire or resign.

  12. What you have is a Mexican low life administration from Mayor to beat cop and what a disgrace you all are. With the current Police Murder rate of Minorities 4 in 9 days you taxpayers have areal problem. Your only chance to avoid death or injury is to never give them a call, which suits them fine. Now pay all the wrongful death suits???????????

    • George your usual ignorance is showing again…they are all American. Larry my have Mexico in his ancestry, Eddie – Puerto Rico and even the totally unreliable SJI has reported that ‘Liccardo’ , if im not mistaken, is Italian in origin.

      • Nate here, my brother wouldn’t waste his fingertips or time on the low life set and Liccardo is Hispanic which shows how up to date you are. Read his bio and oh how about getting your stories together after you shoot unarmed alleged criminals in the back. He and none of the others were tried and convicted by a jury of their peers like the 17 year old with a drill. SJPD have serial killers in their mist. The proof is in the killings. Not my problem, I’m 8000 miles away and SJPD is walking around like Bullseyes. Explain the mistaken killing in the Mall.

  13. I would venture to guess that were an audit done on all police department emails it would reveal that an impressive number of users have been strictly professional in their use of this official channel of communication. Let’s call these users the “Circumspect Group.” I would also venture to guess the audit would reveal the chief, the assistant chief, and a fair number of command officers to have been glaringly unprofessional in their email use. Let’s call them the “Dunderhead Group.”

    The difference between the two groups lies in two distinct traits: intelligence and professional awareness. To know to be circumspect requires either substantial intelligence or a keen awareness of the realities of one’s professional position, or some combination of the two. To wind up a dunderhead requires either a weak mind or an inability to learn how to navigate the profession’s hazards, or some combination of the two.

    Any member of the police department who doesn’t realize that his/her every action is subject to review, critique, and condemnation is a dunderhead. No police officer of any rank has any excuse for assuming that his/her actions will be judged fairly or that anything he/she might do or say can be too trifling to be exploited by others. Most cops learn to be circumspect while working patrol, for nowhere in this society are more curious and critical eyes aimed than at the actions of the uniformed police officer. It is in patrol where an officer learns that no matter how routine, courageous, or noble his/her actions might be in a given situation, a citizen complaint or unfair news spin are never out of the question.

    Dunderheads have trouble with tough questions such as whether to take freebies, fudge on gang stats, or disrespect their city email accounts. The dynamic duo now in charge of SJPD, both career-long “protected class” members, were apparently so protected they failed to absorb some of the basics taught at the police academy. Much is lost when one is exempted from mastering the material, excelling at each rank, and being unfailingly held to answer. The position of police chief is no place for on the job training. If Mayor Liccardo is going to insist on putting his handpicked man in the chief’s office, I suggest he spring for a well-schooled overseer.

  14. OMG! Sorry to offend you Bro, but lots of professional people use slang. Do you believe in using slang, we are less educated? We have poor “character”? To attack the Assistant Chief on something so petty tells me you, the San Jose Inside, needs to find something to generate interest. It also proves to me that ‘someone’ needs a training in other cultures. Using words like ‘Bro’ and ‘pad’ are part of our culture, definitely not yours. Our Assistant Police Chief knows when, where, and how to be professional; he also knows how to make people feel comfortable by sometimes using terms you deem inappropriate. Its odd how people of color are always the one’s getting ‘hit’.

  15. I think people are missing the principal of the situation. It not about the word BRO. Its about ethics and the responsibility to the public. My theory is if you’ll steal 5 dollars you’ll steal $500,000. Why should we not let the officials know we have an eye on you please do right by us.

    I aint mad Josh keep them on their toes and have them act right. Thats why we pay them.

  16. Ok folks, they had to have time to Hillary Clinton the emails. It’s the Chief Cholo outgoing emails that will show you the real activity and they won’t match the incoming. YOU CAN”T HAVE THOSE BUT YOU PAID FOR THE TRANSMISSION. Rick Doyle and the POA attorney spent the whole weekend sanitizing
    the communications. You need the incoming and outgoing with the time stamps in tact. What’s wrong “Slick Lic” Liccardo maybe some narcotics communication?

  17. I’ve always understood, at every job I’ve had, that company email was not private,could be subpoenaed and was not to be used for personal business and I never had a job where I was a “public servant”. I’m not sure there’s anything actually significant in the emails, but the fact that they resisted releasing them does make you wonder.

    I’m not particularly scandalized by the rather innocuous emails revealed in this article, so if all you’ve got is he used the company email to talk about football, I’m not sure that would actually effect my confidence in his ability to do his job, and doesn’t actually seem like much of a story.

    • Nobody knows what subject matter the unreleased emails contain. The City of San Jose chose to release only those reviewed and deemed inconsequential by a mystery panel. Hey, if there all about football and beer, more power to him. Why would the city staff choose to block those unless they fear reprisal from the Mayor’s office. Oh well, all is well, nothing to see here BRO.

  18. There’s no real big scandal here with the Eddie Garcia emails. SJI and the rest of the San Jose media are a big joke. This phony claim about needing to keep the public informed is sickening. I presented them with indisputable and overwhelming evidence that the City Attorney’s Office, the US District Court – San Jose Division and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals are engaged in a huge cheating scandal relative to a lawsuit I filed against the City for civil rights violations. Neither SJI nor any of the other local media have the courage or journalistic integrity to even ask Mayor Liccardo and the City Council to respond to my allegations. Where is the concern about keeping the public informed about this spectacle? Mayor Liccardo and the City Council are engaged in a criminal cover-up. With or without the small-minded local media, i do plan to expose this cheating scandal involving the City Attorney’s Office and the federal courts. Check out these links in order to see the details: http://www.opnlttr.com/letter/open-letter-san-jose-mayor-sam-liccardo-and-city-council; crnctz.blogspot.com/; https://www.facebook.com/groups/624131267713226/ .

  19. Feel like a lot of the internet trolls commenting are simple-minded individuals who were able to become officers because they couldn’t accomplish anything else in life and are truly scared to show their real selves.

    Keep up the great work at uncovering the low maturity levels of San Jose Police.

  20. Mountain out of a molehill. You must live under a rock if you think that Police officers don’t (or shouldn’t) have any relationships with politicians or members of the media. This is how LIFE works. All business is built on relationships, networking, sharing ideas. This article doesn’t make me wonder about any of the emails, but it does make me wonder what you have against Garcia.

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