Last Updated on November 4, 2023 by
The former officer is Mark McNamara. He had been with the department for 6 years and was involved in an officer involved shooting at a La Victoria Taqueria in Downtown San José on March 27, 2022.
These texts were uncovered because of systems I put into place over a year ago, including a personal commitment that only officers who live up to our standards and values wear a San José PD badge.
There is zero tolerance for even a single expression of racial bias at the San José Police Department. The messages were found due to the expansion of our Internal Affairs Unit’s efforts to thoroughly investigate all questionable conduct and is why we have made investments in a new early warning system. I made it clear last year when I expanded our investigation systems that we would be proactive and transparent in identifying patterns of policy violations. This is the promised accountability resulting from that work.
During the course of the investigation, it was also determined that a current employee who was on the receiving end of some of the messages engaged in other concerning dialogue with the former officer. That employee was immediately placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
My directive to identify issues early and elevate investigations into employee misconduct is working. Our relentless commitment to discover and expel any officer who violates the public trust and our Department’s values gives me the confidence that this incident is not a sign of a larger issue.
At this time, I am prohibited by law from providing certain additional details, but I am providing this disclosure in real time. I can also say that criminal charges have not been filed nor are anticipated at this time.
As public servants, we hold ourselves to the most rigorous standards and values in our profession. Any serious incident involving a sworn member of this department rightly causes community concern, however, I am committed as your Police Chief that I will rid our ranks of individuals who act in a manner counter to the mission and values of our department.
If any employee’s racial bias rears its ugly head, rest assured that I will take immediate action to ensure they are not part of this organization. I am extremely proud of the 99.9% of officers whose achievements and dedication to this community are unmatched and I will not let the actions of a few officers cloud the extraordinary work being done in our city every day.
Content retrieved from: https://www.sjpd.org/Home/Components/News/News/93/262.
