|
|
|
For
Immediate Release: Contact:
San Jose, CA ---- San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales announced the creation of a new reward fund to help San Jose police solve difficult cases involving violence against children and families. Starting with the mayor’s contribution of $50,000, Gonzales is seeking matching contributions from residents and businesses to reach the goal of $100,000. “I join every family in our
community to help make sure that criminals who prey upon our children can be
caught and locked up as soon as possible,” said Mayor Gonzales.
“Every day that a serious case is unsolved, the trail gets colder.
We must generate public attention and additional leads with rewards for
information that will help our police solve the toughest cases.” The first reward from the “Mayor’s Safe Families and Neighborhoods Reward Fund” will be $10,000 to get leads in the recent case of the seven-year-old schoolgirl who was assaulted on her way to school in her Gardner neighborhood in April. This case remains open despite the vigorous efforts of police and neighborhood residents to identify the suspect in that assault.
“San
Jose has stayed the safest big city in America as a result of a great police
department and excellent community support.
This reward fund will build on this foundation to help protect every
child and family in every neighborhood.” Recent FBI crime statistics confirmed that San Jose continues to be the safest big city in the nation, and that the rate of serious incidents has fallen again this year. The San Jose Police Officers Association also announced today that it would make the first contribution to the Mayor’s Reward Fund by donating $5000. Councilmember Cindy Chavez pledged to help raise additional community funds to match the initial contribution by Mayor Gonzales. In
addition to the reward fund, Gonzales noted other programs and services that are
aimed at the safety of children and families through prevention. The City Council approved funding yesterday for a new
Internet predator awareness and prevention program as part of the San Jose
budget. This program will work with
middle-school children and their parents to help them
learn how to avoid becoming potential victims.
Internet predatory crimes are on the rise nationwide, and a local program
will help prevent them. The Safe School Campus Initiative
also has now expanded to every high school and middle school in the city.
Through this program, San Jose police work with students, parents, and
schools to develop effective methods to prevent and to prepare for campus
emergencies and school violence. In the coming year San Jose
police will work with the East Side Union High School District in a pilot
project to carry out recommendations learned during a major crisis simulation
last year. The exercise identified
opportunities to improve campus communications and emergency training to aid
police response, and the city has allocated $150,000 to accomplish this goal
that can be used on other school campuses. The City’s new budget also
includes funds for more street lighting near Dorsa
Elementary, Cesar Chavez Elementary, Ryan Elementary and National Hispanic
University to improve safety pedestrians and motorists in these neighborhoods at
night. # #
#
|
“Although
San Jose police have an excellent record clearing difficult cases, they always
can use more solid tips from the community that could make the difference in
bringing justice to young victims, especially after initial public attention and
media interest have died down,” said the mayor.