More than 1,000 officers with San Jose's police union will no longer have limited hours of parental leave to spend with family.
City officials have expanded the existing 40 hours of paid leave for workers to 320 hours, with all of San Jose's major unions becoming eligible as of Oct. 22 -- including officers with the San Jose Police Department. The benefit is part of last year's negotiations with Staff Up San Jose, a coalition of city employee unions. Workers threatened to strike last year over lack of salary increases and family leave.
Newly-appointed Police Chief Paul Joseph told San Jose Spotlight: "Paid parental leave is a critical benefit that will help us meet our commitment to the 30×30 pledge, increasing the representation of women amongst the ranks of our sworn police officers. This benefit will better enable all San Jose police officers to balance the responsibilities of work and family."
Police officials pledged earlier this year to increase the representation of women in police recruit classes to 30 percent by 2030 through what's been dubbed the 30×30 Initiative.
Women make up 12 percent of sworn officers and three percent of police leadership nationwide, while in San Jose women make up 13 percent of sworn officers. Police officials say research shows women officers benefit the community and create better outcomes for crime victims, especially in gender-based violence cases.
Filling the approximately 100 empty vacancies at SJPD has been a long-term struggle for city leaders, who say San Jose has the most thinly-staffed police department out of any major U.S. city.
