San Jose mayor criticizes Santa Clara County’s pretrial release of arrestees

SAN JOSE — San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo on Wednesday blasted a pandemic-era policy designed to minimize the threat of COVID-19 outbreaks among inmates, saying it effectively gives criminals a free pass.

“The jail depopulation policy is not working for our community,” Mayor Liccardo said at a Wednesday press conference attended by members of the business community.

Business owners complain that they are victims of break-ins and vandalism, but even when police catch the offenders, they often spend very little time in jail.

“There’s no consequence. They go to jail and are released a hour later,” says Mezcal Restaurant owner Adolfo Gomez.

Mayor Liccardo says it’s time to reverse or rethink the pandemic policy of releasing suspects accused of non-violent offenses like break-ins and theft.

“We have to get back to a more common-sense approach that says if someone is a repeat or violent offender we not going to simply put them back out on the street,” he said.

Liccardo wants the county to follow the lead of Santa Clara County Superior Court judges by abandoning the policy of pretrial release of arrestees in certain nonviolent crimes. 

The judges recently voted to abandon the Superior Court’s  Emergency Bail Schedule, which authorized the release of hundreds of felony arrestees without bail. The judges additionally allowed their “Citation and Release Order” to expire. That order enabled unaccountable administrators in the County Department of Corrections to release felony arrestees without judicial review.    

County Executive Jeff Smith says the pandemic is not over and the public health rationale for the policy remains.

“We’re not done with the pandemic at all. And we have a responsibility to keep inmates and those in confined spaces safe,” said Dr. Jeff Smith.

Dr. Smith says representatives from the city and county have met to discuss the policy several times but remain at an impasse as to when it might end or be altered.