In response to anonymous online threats that police officers will be targeted on New Year's Eve, the San Jose Police Department announced it will deploy officers in two-man crews per patrol car.
The anonymous threats have referred to New Year's Eve as "Kill a Pig Night" and "The New Years Eve Massacre," according to SJPD.
The announcement is an unusual step, as most alerts from police are related to the public's safety—not the other way around. Most likely the decision to beef up patrol was initiated not just in response to "non-specific" online threats made via social media, but also the recent slaying of two on-duty New York police officers. Officers around the nation have been on edge since that ambush attack, which followed national protests over the deaths of several unarmed men of color at the hands of police.
Below is the full SJPD press release:
As a result of recent threats against law enforcement officers nationwide, the San Jose Police Department has made the decision to have officers patrol the City of San Jose on New Year's Eve with two officers per patrol car for every shift. The recent threats against law enforcement officers have focused on New Year's Eve, so The San Jose Police Department will deploy two-officer patrol cars to ensure officer safety tonight.
There has been non-specific threats received by The San Jose Police Department referencing violence against law enforcement on New Years Eve. Law Enforcement nationwide have been alerted to non-specific threats mentioning that New Years Eve 2014 will be "Kill a Pig Night" and "The New Years Eve Massacre".
The San Jose Police Department takes all threats seriously and we want to protect our officers.
Someone pull the Shift Roster! Every holiday all of the Brass are AWOL from PAB with the holiday off. The watch commander is always a SGT. When you would think that everyone works on Friday and Saturday nights the truth is just the opposite. New Years Day, Xmas Day, Easter and all the other holidays are slightly manned. So putting two man units out for protection is simply a way to avoid the real problem. No Civilian Review Board, No independent investigation of Police Crimes and the warm fuzzy feeling that the Police Officer Bill of Rights, Warren v. D.C., Copely v. San Diego and the ‘Code of Silence” will barricade these people and protect them from the light of day. They all have so much on each other that there can be no justice and they really need four man patrols if there are any real threats.