San Jose Police Department

The San Jose Police Department (SJPD) is the police agency for San Jose, California, which has contributed to San Jose being one of the safest large cities in the United States. The San Jose Police Department is led by Chief of Police Edgardo (Eddie) Garcia.

In September 2007, the San Jose Police Department began making all its Calls for Service available to the public through a partnership with Crime Reports.com. San Jose is the first American city to make all 911 calls available via online "CrimeReports.com" maps. The 911 call data is updated daily.

History

The San Jose Police Department was founded in 1849. At that time, California was not even officially part of the United States, but regardless, San Jose was considered the capital.

During its beginnings, the most common offenses recorded for the department were public intoxication and vagrancy according to old jailhouse records. In 1880, the department was averaging at 120 arrests per month, and the position of police chief was created. The chief also acted as the superintendent of the city jail, and by the late 1880s, the department went from 10 officers at its beginning to 25. In the early 1900s, as the SJPD grew, it became much more organized. As laws were passed and the department modernized, more rules and regulations were instituted regarding police officers. Officers now needed to go through field training and revolver training.