With San Jose's income streams being ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, city leaders are considering shaving more than $10 million off public safety in next year's budget. The cuts would affect the hiring of police officers and firefighters, reduce access to community services and delay the expansion of a long-awaited fire station in the city's Willow Glen neighborhood.
With the city's finances in tatters and a $71.6 million hole in the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, San Jose leaders are proposing sweeping cuts to city functions as they face a grim economic future. But public safety personnel said the proposed cuts would bring the city back to a time when crime rates were high, 911 response times increased and residents' quality of life deteriorated.
"Cutting police officers will have a detrimental impact on our neighborhoods — the department already does not meet its emergency response time goals," Paul Kelly, president of the San Jose Police Officers Association, told the San Jose Spotlight.