“In no uncertain terms, he (Jim Unland) blamed Measure B for the departure of hundreds of officers — and he told us that it would be better for the department and for us if we would just quit, right then and there.”
That was the assertion made by a young police recruit who failed to pass the rigors of training in the San Jose Police Academy, and was asked to leave. It was in the form of an opinion piece in the Sunday edition of the San Jose Mercury News. After accusing Police Officers Association President Jim Unland of deliberately trying to drive new recruits away, she changed her story.
Today in The Mercury News: “On Monday, Rivas said that she could not say Unland used the word “quit.”
Furthermore, San Jose Police officer Greg Salas who, along with Officer Kevin Mank, attended the same orientation Rivas talked about disputed her version of what Unland told recruits:
“Kevin Mank and I escorted the Academy class during the orientation while at the Police Administration Building. The academy was divided into two groups. Mr. Mank and I were at the presentations regarding the P.O.A. benefits and at no time heard Sgt. Unland tell the recruits to quit then and there and that they were not helping the P.O.A.’s cause in defeating Measure B.” – Greg Salas, San Jose Police Officer
Sunday Mercury News: But a few weeks before graduation, I was forced to resign. I had never before handled a firearm, and I was told by one of the academy’s sergeants that he would recommend my termination due to my poor firearm safety training performance. I believe that with additional training, I could have passed the safety training component.
Today: Rivas’ statement about her experience on the gun range and the department’s lack of interest in improving her performance was also disputed.
Mercury News reporter Eric Khuri detailed the response from the police firearms instructor who worked with Rivas. “That is an outright lie,” wrote firearms instructor Pat Comerford in an email to this newspaper. “I personally spent several additional hours (at least seven) with her outside of regular range time working on her firearms skills. I had gotten her to where she was shooting well enough, but her safety with the firearms still was not there.” “
This is the second time in the last few weeks that local newspapers have relied on a source that turned out not to be credible. The Metro recently ran a story falsely accusing Congressman Mike Honda of wrongdoing, and their source was a disgruntled ex-staff member, under a restraining order. That situation resembles this one. Some members of the media ignore legitimate concerns about the credibility of a politically charged accusation because it helps their candidates. Does anyone believe these publications would have aired such accusations if they had been against Ro Khanna or Sam Liccardo?
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