SJ Police Officers' Association accuses department of corruption, misconduct

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The San Jose Police Officers' Association is calling out the department for incompetence, falsehoods and corruption.

A few of the powerful claims were detailed in a video, highlighting what the union calls "a broken discipline process within SJPD."

"A pattern of willful misconduct within the Internal Affairs Department that goes beyond simple mistakes and has exposed outrageous conduct that appears to be sanctioned by the highest levels within the San Jose Police Department," the video said.

This includes misconduct, lack of training and altered documents. SJPOA President Steve Slack is demanding accountability.

"My members are held accountable every day," Slack said. "Where is accountability for our command staff and the bureaucratic decision makers at city hall?"

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One of the most egregious claims from the POA is that Deputy Chief Brian Spears used correction fluid to alter an official document -- which led to an officer's termination.

Officer Michael Richmond was accused of misconduct and, according to the POA, by the subject of this document regarding actions to be taken against him was originally labeled as a "personnel matter."

But a forensic team hired by the association uncovered that then-Captain Spears used correction fluid and two different colors of ink to change the subject to "request for department initiated investigation."

The POA claims changing the subject line then launched an internal affairs investigation, which ultimately led to Richmond's dismissal.

In a deposition shown in the SJPOA video, Spears had this to say about the allegations: "Was it as a result of your communication with Deputy Chief Shab that you changed the subject line?"

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Attorney: "Objection, asked and answered."

"It's possible, but I don't recall," Spears said.

The San Jose City Attorney's office addressed the correction fluid claim, admitting that the subject line was changed but clarified why: "The officer responsible readily explained in the arbitration proceedings why he felt an investigation was warranted and therefore changed the title."

The City attorney's office responded to Richmond's claim: "The effort by him and his counsel to magnify and mischaracterize selected information is disingenuous and distorts the truth."

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Richmond has since been reinstated after an arbitrator says his constitutional rights were violated.

The POA wants to see proper reform to prevent issues like this -- and many others like it -- from happening again.

"Instead of dealing with doctored documents, Wite-Out, false affidavits and people who aren't trained to interview our members, if you're going to end someone's career, if you're going to take someone's livelihood from them, then you better be standing on a pile of facts instead of a puddle of Wite-Out," Slack said..

Richmond is suing the city after he says he has not been given backpay and legal fees from the city following his reinstatement.