The police are reorganizing the districts to facilitate the vigilance response

SAN JOSE – The San Jose Police Department has announced that it will reorganize its service districts later this year in an effort to reduce patrol contact times and deploy officers more efficiently.

These changes, which will begin on November 8, will also consolidate the duties of police patrols in all regions in certain areas. The goal, officials say, is to maintain continuity when officers are away or off patrol and leaving with their institutional knowledge.

The number of patrol districts will be reduced from 16 to 12, although districts that include historically diverse areas such as Little Saigon, Evergreen, Alviso, and Rose Garden will be kept intact, police said Tuesday. An interactive map of the planned patrol district changes is posted on the city of San Jose’s website.

Police promised that the redrawn districts would produce faster response times and fewer delayed calls, as well as “consistent policing in all areas.”

“Our mission is simple: better service to the public and better support for the police,” Police Chief Paul Joseph said in a statement. “This new monitoring structure allows us to respond more quickly, target more effectively, and stay connected to the communities we serve, without losing sight of what remains important.”

Response times have been a constant struggle for the SJPD. The city’s 2024-25 audit report found the citywide average response time for so-called Priority 1 calls — involving imminent danger to life or major property loss — was 8.1 minutes, 33% slower than the target time of 6 minutes. 2 priority calls, involving actual or potential injury or property damage, had a citywide average response time of 27.8 minutes, or more than two and a half times slower than the target of 11 minutes.

In a statement accompanying the news release, City Manager Jennifer Maguire called the redistricting a “thoughtful, data-driven approach,” and Mayor Matt Mahan said the department is “creating modern police districts to reflect how San Jose has grown — and where calls for service are happening.”

The beginning of the reorganization begins in 2020, when the City Council allocated $350,000 to study a plan to better integrate the districts with existing police personnel. In San Jose, that number is currently 1,027 sworn police officers, giving an average of 1.03 officers per 1,000 residents, compared to a national average of about 2.5.

Police say the current map of the patrol district has not been updated since the turn of the century. Back then, it was supposed to reach at least 2,000 officers, but those estimates were dashed by the Great Recession, pension battles, and competitive hiring challenges. A city memo outlining the new reorganization plan, written by Capt. Stephen Donohue and signed by Joseph, says “the previous 16-county structure no longer fits current staffing levels or job needs.”