San Jose police used force 598 times in 2025, up about 5% and the fourth straight annual increase, according to the Independent Police Auditor's annual report presented to the City Council last week, San José Spotlight reported.
Key numbers
- Misconduct allegations: 1,034, up 39% from 2024. The most common involved police procedures, discourtesy, discriminatory policing and arrests or detentions.
- Critical incidents: 20, including three police shootings, one in-custody death and 16 serious-injury cases, up from 15 the year before.
- Outcomes: Officers were exonerated in 58% of cases. A violation was found likely in 11%.
- Reviews: The auditor reviewed 330 Internal Affairs investigations, and its appeals changed the findings in three.
"Kept in the dark"
Interim auditor Dwight White wrote that his office is still "kept in the dark" right after police shootings because a city and police directive bars it from shooting scenes, KQED reported. The office has stopped sending staff to those scenes this year.
The report makes 12 recommendations, including barring officers from using personal devices to access license plate reader data. The department agreed with or partly agreed to all of them, KQED reported. "Many of these we've already either enacted ourselves or are in the process of implementing," Police Chief Paul Joseph told the council.