San Jose rejects using budget surplus to prevent home burglaries

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- The San Jose City Council has just defeated a move to give some of the budget surplus to residents so that they can buy home security systems. It's all part of a fight over a police staffing shortage in the city.

In response to an alarming rise in burglaries, City Councilman Ash Kalra proposed to give some of the budget surplus to neighborhood groups in order to buy deadbolts, alarm systems, maybe security cameras, but city council members didn't like the proposal.

Despite the council's rejection, some residents liked the proposal, which would allow them to alarm themselves against home burglaries.

"I think it's awesome because I live in a cul-de-sac in a really nice neighborhood and two homes got broken into," San Jose resident Renee Method said.

"We have increasing crime in the city of San Jose. There's something that needs to be done right now," Bob Cast said.

It's hard to find someone in San Jose who hasn't had a break-in in their neighborhood or found security footage of a burglary in progress.

The police force is hundreds of officers short. The burglary unit has been decimated.

Kalra's plan is to take $2 million from the budget surplus, specifically money earmarked to hire more officers, to help residents buy home security systems.

"Rather than warehousing $3 million to hire officers in the future, there are needs right now in our neighborhood," Kalra said.

Mayor Chuck Reed said it was a bad idea and that it's simply election-time rhetoric. "I don't think anybody wants to take money from the police staffing fund. We want to increase the size of the department. That's why we set aside the money," he said.

The San Jose Police Officers Association supports the proposal. They say it's a reality check.

"I think the citizens in San Jose are tired of being victims, and we know we can't get the police officers to their house," Sgt. Paul Kelly said.

Last year in San Jose, the total value of stolen property reached an all-time high of $76 million. That's according to the State Justice Department. Most of that came from home burglaries.