San Jose police union calls for investigation into lack of mutual aid request over weekend

San Jose, CA - A violent weekend in San Jose has prompted questions about police responses to 911 calls. 

The San Jose police union wants to know why there wasn’t a departmental request for mutual aid. The question highlights a split between the San Jose Police Department and its unionized officers.

"This weekend we were busy with several high priority events," said department spokesman Sgt. Christian Camarillo.

The divide centered on multiple emergency calls from Saturday night though early Sunday morning.

"A lot of crying. Women crying. I didn’t know what was happening at the time," one man said Sunday at an East San Jose crime scene.

Officers responded to at least five instances of shots fired, and three stabbings.

"Our patrol officers handled everything. Responded to these calls," said Camarillo.

But the president of the San Jose Police Officers' Association disagreed with that assessment.

"When someone calls 911 the police should answer that call. The San Jose police failed miserably," said Sean Pritchard.

The association said dozens of additional 911 calls went unanswered for hours due to a shortage of officers. Despite requiring overtime from so-called swing-shift and third shift officers, some portions of America’s 10th largest city had no police officers available for emergency service calls.

"San Pose PD failed. People died. And we need to know why. Today we are calling for an investigation into why city leaders did not request mutual aid," said Pritchard.

San Jose’s mayor and city manager both said a mutual aid request must come from the chief of police.

The police department emailed a response statement that reads in part, "We did not conclude that the amount of calls….required assistance from any allied agency… We had over 100 officers handling and assisting with all the major incidents…"

"I’ve never been working a shift where the calls were so out of hand that we had to call in an allied agency," said Camarillo.

Brass pointed to the George Floyd protests from May 29, 2020, in Downtown San Jose, as an example of the last time mutual aid was needed.

But representatives for the officers’ union said with some of its members forced to work 16 hours or more, additional, outside resources were needed this past weekend.

"City leaders are working our officers far too long, too often.  And it’s putting the public’s safety at risk. And our officers at risk," said Sgt. Catherine Alvarez, the San Jose police field training program manager.

There’s been no word on if there will be a formal investigation, or which agency would take the lead.

Jesse Gary is a reporter based in the station's South Bay bureau. Follow him on Twitter @JesseKTVU and Instagram @jessegontv.