At least two officers from the San Jose Police Department are facing internal investigations on separate serious incidents, NBC Bay Area has learned.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation said an officer working as uniformed security officer accidentally fired his gun in a San Jose City Hall conference room recently.
No one was injured, and it’s unclear if anyone witnessed the shooting. But that officer is no longer at City Hall.
It's one of two unrelated incidents involving San Jose officers. The second incident involves an officer who got into a traffic accident in her patrol car but didn’t report it, sources said.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
That officer settled the matter privately with the other driver, but that driver is complaining of pain.
In a statement about the two incidents, the police department would only say, “Under current law, we cannot provide comment or information regarding personnel matters or any possible administrative investigations.”
“The SJPD and other agencies have to do very careful background checks and psychological examinations of these candidates, who (are) going to have a badge and have a gun,” said civil rights attorney Jaime Leaños, who has successfully sued the San Jose Police Department several times.
Local
Leaños is now representing a woman who said she was groped during an arrest by former officer Mathew Dominguez. He’s the same officer who was fired for allegedly touching himself sexually while at a possible victim's home investigating a crime.
Leaños said he will bring up the vetting and recruitment of Dominguez when his civil case goes to trial.
“The city is liable for police officers when they behave in criminal behavior during the scope of their employment as an officer,” said Leaños.
He calls the recent rash of alleged incidents involving police, “troubling." They get added to a list that already includes the Dominguez case; the case of officer De'Jon Packer, who died of a fentanyl overdose last year; and another officer who was just fired for using the n-word in text messages.
In her latest report, the independent police auditor noted that overall complaints against San Jose police officers are at a three-year high.
