San Jose police use of force cases continue to rise

Police use of force incidents and misconduct allegations continued to rise in San Jose last year, according to a recently released report from the Office of the Independent Police Auditor, the city’s police watchdog agency. The annual report includes statistics on police misconduct for 2025 as well as reform recommendations from Interim Police Auditor Dwight White, who assumed the role after the previous auditor, Eddie Aubrey, retired suddenly in September without providing a public explanation. Among the report’s headline statistics, it found that use of force incidents involving San Jose Police Department officers rose by roughy 5% in 2025 compared to the previous year, reaching 598 total incidents. This marks the fourth consecutive year of increases, after a sharp decline in 2021 following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Use of force incidents involving San Jose Police Department officers increased again in 2025, according to charts and figures from a recent report by the cit