Shoppers Skeptical as Several Cannibals Found Eating Outside Tommy Bahama’s
Upscale shopping center Santana Row—70 shops, 20 restaurants, 5 spas, 1 hotel, 24 hours—has now added, “10 security check points” to its slogan in a bold, and some say overreaching, plan to rid the mall of violence.
“We were left with no choice,” said Federal Realty Investment Trust CEO Donald Wood, referring to the recent drive-by shootings. “We have to restore a perception of safety. We’re not downtown, for God’s sake.”
Security checkpoints were added to all entrances, dozens of federal mall marshals were hired to patrol the tastefully appointed pedestrian pathways, and canine explosive detection teams were wandering the grounds sniffing shoppers’ crotches, all as a show of force as regional media outlets documented the changes for an anxious public.
But, by early Friday morning, all efforts were lost as several cannibals were apprehended after they were found outside of Tommy Bahama’s eating humans.
Security guards were tipped off when they found half a dozen people bound, gagged and hung by their ankles from an oak tree adjacent to the public chessboard, seemingly curing for an afternoon hor d’oeouvres or the evening’s appetizer.
“Obviously the security checkpoints aren’t foolproof,” said Santana Row Security Chief Joe McNamara. “But we’re working the kinks out. I should think that common sense would tell you that if someone is gnawing on a human limb, they’re probably not going to do much shopping.”
When confronted, several of the checkpoint guards involved in the incident said they allowed the cannibals access in order to avoid any perception of unnecessary profiling.
Has SJPD set-up skirmish lines of SWAT clothed officers yet? Are their PD cars parked on the sidewalks every 50 feet? Has the club that the thug emerged from been closed down utilizing the Urgency Ordinance?
Of course not – this is not downtown. These heavy handed techniques are only used downtown. Maybe we have to designate downtown a protected class….
What I find even more shocking is that the cannibals are organized, have spokesmen, and even their own clubs – Cannibal Clubs or somesuch.
I’ve even seen them on local TV news.
They’re always talking about pots like it’s no big deal. It’s sickening.
Police go where criminals, crimes, requests for increased patrols or where they can prevent crimes like downtown at closing time
Most of day you only see a few police downtown
City Council knows Police are downtown at night so it is either formal or informal city policy supported by many residents
A few club owners and Downtown Association ignore night crime problems and have not worked with residents to solve problem
Many downtown’s former nighttime customers go to Santana Row, other cities or neighborhood business districts so thugs follow
Sunnyvale has same problem and recently closed a club over Christmas and New Years for crime problems
Santana Row’s thugs were arrested within hours while downtown’s go free to repeat more downtown crimes
Other business areas fix their crime problems while downtown’s known crime problems are not being fixed so even downtown residents go elsewhere – Right – Single Gal
We will spend our money and see you in Santana Row, Campbell or Los Gatos this weekend or at night
Heard Downtown Association is going to have a new advertising campaign to attract more of their customers downtown at night by putting up large signs saying
– Criminals, perverts, gangs and losers Welcome – Everyone else come here at night at your own risk
Don’t see that customer attitude, welcome or signs in other cities or business areas
BTW: Anyone figure out how that Santana Row fire started a couple years back?
Might be they had a BBQ on the top floor, potentially roasting the financial genius who got them into such tremendous red ink.
Alas, the “accidental” fire provided the insurance money to rebuild and the opportunity to scale down the project as to be reasonable and profitable.
In tragedy there is often a silver lining. . .
P.S. How come they can determine the cause of the Rivermark fire in a matter of hours or the cause of a forest fire than burns thousands of acres, but we still don’t have any idea how that Santana Row fire started?
Ha the San Jose Police Dept. You got to love them. Is this the same Dept that had the lowest score on releasing crime information to the public according to todays story in the Mercury News? To #3, at our neighborhood meetings we have been asking for more patrols in our neighborhood but were told that no manpower is available. I assume tha’s because their all downtown leaving us without any help to control gangs in our neighborhoods. With all the cops downtown why isn’t the crime rate down in this area. At one activity at Lyon’s Plaza last year we were told that the Police didn’t have enough officers available to control the problem and that they were only there to show presence and not interfer. If this is their plan for downtown also, it would explain why downtown still has this crime problem even with all the show of force.
Downtowner,
The unnecessary santana row incident is a very good example of the horrible policing that has happened / played out in downtown for years.
The individuals that shot an innocent security guard WERE IN POLICE CUSTODY before the shooting happened. They had already assaulted the security guards.
The police were called and informed of this; but decided to let them go because REPORTS TAKE TO MUCH TIME AND MONEY!. And the reports hurt our SAFEST CITY IN AMERICA BS title.
The criminals were let go and basically allowed to come back and shoot innocent people.
THIS TYPE OF POLICING OR LACK OF POLICING IS COMMON PRACTISE IN DOWNTOWN. And is a really big reason we have problems downtown.
So keep beating your drums and blaming the victims and businesses owners.
Downtown Association’s new advertising campaign will attract more of their targeted customers downtown at night with large billboards all over Northern California saying
– Downtown San Jose welcomes – Criminals, perverts, gangs and losers – Everyone else come here at night at your own risk
Downtown Association’s press release stated –
“We don’t see other cities or business areas targeting these high spending customers or welcoming them so we are increasing our advertising to attract more of them to our downtown clubs on weekend and nights
City Council supports our business plan and we have the cooperation of Police Department to kick them out of town right after the clubs close but they are welcome back when we open tomorrow”
We have received an awards from Gangsta Rap, and Felony Magazines. California Prison system and Parole Board recently awarded us ” Ex Felon City of the Year Award” for welcoming former prisoners and sexual predators and making them feel – back in da ‘hood ”
” San Jose’s downtown businesses have solved our ex felon relocation problems since many cities did not want them. We now know where to send them”
We are in talks with Mayor Reed as part of our marketing program to change San Jose’s city slogan to “San Jose downtown – The Ex Felon and Sexual Predators Capital of California”
What is funny is the long standing jealousy that Santa Clara City officials have towads Santanna Row. They even have a fantasy of building a rival one near the new stadium for the 49ers.
Downtowner er police man
Who blamed victims?
As for Downtown business owners – you say Downtown Association and clubs are not the problem but – Police Department and City Council – for downtown’s gang and criminal problems – Sounds like more downtown business ” blame others” excuses
As for Santana Row business owners – You say – ” The criminals were let go and basically allowed to come back and shoot innocent ”
If a crime was committed, were you or anyone / business owners / guards at Santana Row witnessing a crime willing to sign a complaint?
If Not, Police can Not arrest them, if they did not see a crime or no one makes a complaint
No police / witnesses to crime – No arrests
You may not like the rules, but that’s how it works
Sounds like Santana Row wanted them gone not arrested while later when they committed a later serious crime then Santana Row wanted them arrested
Downtowner,
You sound more and more like a police officer from San Jose. I am glad you completed a whole 26 units at the junior college and can adequately write a jay walking ticket. Seems that is all you courageous police officers seem capable of doing in this city.
As for the downtown association and the night clubs; I don’t know much about them. I only know, from experience, that the police don’t do much policing is this city. They just point fingers and blame any problem on the nearest alcohol related business or ethnic person. Seems the police are stuck in the mentality our country 20 or 30 years ago.
Keep bailing your hay and kicking cow turds you old police fella!
#7 opined:“The police were called and informed of this[@ Santana Row]; but decided to let them go because REPORTS TAKE TO MUCH TIME AND MONEY!. And the reports hurt our SAFEST CITY IN AMERICA BS title.”
She/he then said “THIS TYPE OF POLICING OR LACK OF POLICING IS COMMON PRACTISE IN DOWNTOWN”
There’s another reason—fear of being accused of profiling.
The reason why a lot of folks don’t even consider going downtown on a weekend past 10pm or so is because of the police. Wherever you want to lay the blame, that’s a fact. I’ve talked to several “upstanding” citizens who were harassed and/or intimidated by the police. For example, one person told me an officer asked him why he was even downtown to begin with. Why he wasn’t at Santana Row instead. That’s what the officer said. I had another person tell me that an officer told him this: “We’re the biggest gang in San Jose.” I had yet another person tell me that he caught an officer making out with some woman in his police car, while on duty, and then the officer gave him hell because the guy caught him. “You want something?” The officer said. That’s what he said.
Here’s another example of what happens: two drunk guys were sharing a bottle in the afternoon at the lightrail station in front of Zanotto’s. There were four police cars, a paddy wagon and a paramedic’s truck. And since it was at a VTA stop, there were also three Sheriff cars there. Why? It was just two drunk idiots at a bus stop. Throw ‘em in the back seat and take care of it. Why seven police cars?
I saw two teenagers getting arrested for doing a drug deal near that same station. Six police cars with a total of probably ten officers. Why does it take ten cops to arrest two kids?
I’m not saying there should be no police presence whatsoever, and I’m not “blaming the police” for everything, but something is seriously wrong here, especially when the chief keeps saying stuff like, “we don’t have the resources” to deal with everything.
When you see police cars parking on the sidewalk in front of Zanotto’s just because they can, and you see abuse like this on a regular daily basis, it just further breeds a massive distrust of the police in general. And all the kids who come downtown to cause trouble just feed on it all. It’s like Iraq – you can’t just go in and use overwheling force to solve the problem. it doesn’t work.
OK, enough.
If our police department’s reluctance to make arrests and make public the who, what, and where of criminal activity doesn’t make you scratch your head in bewilderment, it should. After all, crime is the department’s business, and shouldn’t it be the department’s mission—especially given the disproportionate size of its budget—to see to it that those paying the tab be served in a professional, thorough, and forthright manner?
If officers are experiencing, as it is reported from both inside and outside the department, a reluctance to confront and arrest wrongdoers, and the department is actively shielding us from the truth about crime, what exactly is the job we are paying Chief Davis to do? Is it to serve us, the general public, or someone else?
The answer is simple: we pay him to do his job, but what he does instead is serve his political masters, kowtow to minority activists, and sacrifice the public good. He undermines enforcement not out of any misplaced compassion for criminals, but because he cannot politically risk the results of a by-the-book application of the law. He fears the disproportionate statistics that would be all but guaranteed by unrestrained enforcement, just as he fears the public’s reaction should they somehow learn what is really going on in their city.
In other words, we pay him good money to appear professional and sincere and con us. And that he does; performing his job using the particular skills that have become the new standard of his profession—skills that have more in common with those possessed by a news anchor or game show host than they do with those acquired by a street-hardened police veteran.
And how fitting, given the fact that we, the public—his audience, no longer want reality from our police chief. No, what we want is the race-neutral, diversity is a blessing illusion behind the curtain, not the ugly, uncomfortable reality that exists on the streets outside. Lucky for us, we’ve got just the chief to deliver it.
Come on down!
For once I’m on the same page with Rich Robinson, must be the new year! Except for the “silver lining,” I never agreed with the project in the first place.
SR fire was always more than suspect, remember how the winds were just so perfect that day, seems there were other timely contributing causes to that fire. Maybe we’ll hear more with the new mayor.l
WW and RR,
What is also odd; is how few cars owned by the construction crews were in the parking lot. Most of the days the cars were using the just opened floors of the garage. Suddenly they were not there. Then the place burned down.
Seemed the rats left the soon to be sinking ship before it set sail.
Will the Santana Row Security Chief Joe McNamara have to appear before a special security subcommittee of the San Jose City Council when he announces his plans for a surge in security and orders in 2 more foot soldiers to as he says, “work out the kinks”?
#22 and #23,
Downtown bars and clubs want to pay for off duty police. The mess we are in was started when Cindy Chavez took our ability to hire pay officers away.
Pay officers can make a difference in the following ways:
1. provide a out of the police car walking presence in downtown
2. having the officer at the front door of a club make it easier for the club to turn away undesirable patrons. This is a really big issue downtown. Patrons who are not allowed into the club can cause significant problems for the public.
3. helping in the fight to stop underage patrons with fake ID’s. It is really easy to buy fake ID’s that are almost impossible to catch. When we do find them; it would be helpful to have an officer who can issue a citation to the minor.
4. having an officer at closing time can help make sure patrons leave in an orderly fashion without problems that can occur when 300 or more people exit all at once
There are many more benefits to having off duty officers. Making this simple change can help the whole downtown become a better place in a short period of time.
Special note to #22. The downtown associations work has been very important on this issue. I don’t understand how you feel the DTA or any group of small businesses can make the public and police policy you accusing them and small businesses of not making.
The mayor, police chief and city council make the decisions. We, like the rest of the public, are at thier mercy for good and bad decisions they make.
If you or anyone else agrees that we should reinstate pay officers. Please call the mayor office and the district 3 offices ASAP. That is all we have the power to do as businesses as well.
Regards
Bar / Restuarant owner in Downtown
What would Mat Dillon do?
San Jose DowntownClubs Association ( SJDA) has been studying downtown nightclub problems for almost a year and still no solutions since they do not want to pay for their extra security and Police costs while San Jose taxpayers pays for extra downtown Police costs
http://www.sjdowntown.com/news/announcements/sanjose_nightculture.html
San Jose has smallest number of Police Officers of any large city and a very large city to patrol
Extra Police officers sent downtown on nights and weekends leaves many neighborhood less secure with few officers to patrol or respond while our neighborhood crimes increase especially gangs, property and car thiefs while city pays downtown Police overtime costs which we can not afford
Most cites require their businesses who benefit from or require extra security to pay for all the security or extra Police costs.
Santana Row and all Shopping center businesses pay for their security guards or off duty Police while San Jose Police are only called as necessary for arrests and crime investigation
If late night businesses or business district had to pay extra security costs they would either control their problem customers or go out of business rather than current unfair situation of some downtown businesses benefiting from attracting problem customers and other businesses lose customers while San Jose’s taxpayers pay for downtown business extra Police costs
Downtown businesses or business district should be required to hire and pay for all it’s own security or off duty Police costs and only receive city average Police coverage while be charged for extra downtown Police costs
Reduce Police downtown and put them back in neighborhoods
Downtown clubs and late night businesses should pay for security and extra Police costs not people of San Jose
Having large ($300-500 plus court costs) fines or 3-5 days working it off – city volunteering will keep youth curfew violations out of downtown entertainment district
Also increase fines for traffic and other violations after 9 pm in downtown entertainment business district like construction zone doubling fines to pay for Police
# 22 got it right – violators and downtown businesses should pay to play at night in downtown San Jose
Whew! I got a migraine from reading all the bureuacratese in the link # 22 gave us. But I have a cure. I want to get in the group of key stakeholders metioned there. Wow! Atlanta, San Antonio, Seattle….See below. Where do I sign up? Oh, I only live here, so I’m probably not a key stakeholder. But I bet Scott Kneis and the usual suspects are”. Have a fun time, guys, on our downtown BID money, I’m sure.
” Form a group representing key stakeholders to benchmark practices in other similar cities and identify best practices. This group should research and/or visit downtown entertainment zones in comparable cities such as Atlanta, San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle and Denver; meeting with police and city officials as well as the business community, and report back (in writing) with their findings. **”
Right on Rich #5-
What was up with that and has the investigation officially been called “An unkown cause?” Weak. I guess the powerful (ie. money), can get away with murder, er, arson.
Wow. Lot of nightclubbers have come out of the woodwork today bashing the police. The problem with the police isn’t:
profiling
escorting drunken idiots out of downtown
heavy handedness(is that a word?)
the police chief being too political(although he is)
unreasonable force
The problem is the Downtown Association(SJDA) promoting their constituency which is all nightclub interests. If there was ever a lobbying group for nightclubs, it’s the SJDA.
Unless we start making crime punishable we have big problems. I blame it on the do gooders and liberal thinkers that believe everyone is good and can be saved. This is completeyly wrong. There are very bad people like mad dogs that must be put to sleep or keep away from other people. If someone tries to kill someone but fails as far as I’m concerned and everyone else should be that is murder. Just because you missed you should still be in prision for life. If you badly injure someone without regard for their lives that should be attemeted murder and spend 40 or 50 years in jail until you’re to old to hurrt someone again.
#12. O’Connor: Police concerns about racial profiling charge caused them to release the Santana Row shooting suspects prior to the shooting?
That’s a bold claim. Please share details.
#26—I was speaking of downtown arrests. See my 2d paragraph
#28. Thanks for the clarification. Apparently police worry about charges of racial profiling when they make arrests downtown, but not a few miles away at Santana Row.
#24 Bar Owner has a very good point. I used to work in the night life scene while attending SJSU. Having police at the doors to bars and clubs I worked at made it really easy to deal with problems.
sometimes making what seems like a simple change can have huge unforseen consequences (ie getting rid of pay officers has contributed to the way downtown has become).
If the busenesses will pay, why not allow pay officers again? It can’t hurt to try something that worked in the past!
I believe Joe McNamara actually started the ball rolling on cops-for-pay-at-clubs when he reduced the number of hours cops could work outside for pay. The boys in blue didn’t like that very much, since many of them had outsized liabilities based on their cop pay—boats, second homes, ex-wives (sometimes multiple ex-wives) and multiple kids to support. They groused, but adjusted.
Ms. Guerrero-Daly merely put the last nail in the coffin.
If we are to re-institute allowing cops side jobs as bouncers (excuse me, security staff) we definitely need limits and strict guidelines. The last thing I want is a cop on the 7:00 a.m. shift after working The Club Miami Beach until 3:00 a.m. the previous morning. Chances for short tempers and mistakes during the day by those who protect and serve rise exponentially when they’re tired and cranky after having to subdue some lowlife in the parking lot just a few hours ago.
JMOC,
You’re being far too kind to Ms. G-D. Her efforts were in now way confined to the final nail; she put that coffin together with her own otherwise idle hands. And, as I stated previously, she did it with the express purpose of making her mark, after years of failing to justify her worth or uncover a single case where the police department had not properly policed itself. Check it out for yourself and you’ll find that she sounded her alarm making good use of the local media despite the fact that neither her concerns nor the track record of the pay job program was at all newsworthy. But she knew that the media was always more than ready to paint a dark cloud over the police and was confident she could count on the knee-jerk political support of the local anti-police community for any proposal that might stick it to the cops.
In the ensuing discussions little attention was paid to how the police-patron relationship might be altered, as the cops were busy countering the undeserved suggestions of corruption and the club owners were trying to figure out how much of their money the city would soon be spending. No one involved ever recognized that in matters of security, be it in a corporate environment or a nightclub scene, familiarity, understanding, and respect have real value (Ms. G-D should be excused for that—out of sheer ignorance, however, the police chief should’ve known better). The end result: a goon squad of anonymous faces, most of whom have already worked a beat for ten hours, and a seriously pissed-off collection of club owners and citizens.
As for Joe McNamara (who was long gone when Ms. G-D arrived), if he made administrative adjustments to the pay job program then he was doing the job for which he was paid, as would any chief. If constraints or changes need be made in any government agency, fine, but they shouldn’t be made by someone with no expertise, credibility, or responsibility to deal with the resulting mess.
SJSU Alum,
I have made that point a number of times on this board, attributing the unnecessary and ill-advised discontinuation of the pay-job system to the former police auditor, Teresa Guerrero-Daley. Possessing not an ounce of the experience required to adequately assess the night club security issue, Ms. Guerrero-Daley sought out this issue as a way to make her mark and deflect attention away from her absolute failure to justify the need for the office to which she was appointed. And though the changes she engineered downtown have proved disastrous, her little scheme produced the resounding success that seems to come to all government incompetents blessed with minority status, as she won widespread support from City Hall in her subsequent, successful run for the local bench.
Pity anyone who now finds their liberty or financial well-being subjected to her affirmative-action level of wisdom.
FinFan,
Your right on the money with the idea that the current chief and the past chief should have known better. They did and still do. I know this from first hand experience.
Removing pay officers was a bad move and was basically done to set the nightlife of san jose up for FAILURE.
The chief is acting on orders and would like to make it as hard as possible for any nightlife operators to exist in downtown. The current situation is set so that as many of the bars and clubs as possible will fail and there will be very little of them in the comming years.
Sad thing is downtown is becoming more and more dangerous. The clubs still seem busy, just the clientele is just really low quality. Many of the clubs, who are obeying all laws, just attract more and more A$$wholes; which makes it harder to police.
Inside PD
Within the last ten years of the cities push to have more affordable housing for the poor and the huge influx of african americans, it’s only expected to get worse.
It’s undeniable, take a look at East Palo Alto, Richmond and Oakland, with the highest crime rates in the bay area and inevitably our future.
24 Arrested In Nightclub Violence In San Jose.
San Jose police were busy Saturday night as violent incidents erupted at three separate nightclubs within hours of each other.
So what now man?