San Jose Police Chief Under Fire For Accepting Gifts From San Francisco 49ers
SAN JOSE (KCBS) – A complaint has been lobbied against San Jose Police Chief Larry Esquivel, for receiving gifts from the San Francisco 49ers.
Two of San Jose's top police commanders are already the subject of an internal investigation for accepting free 49ers' tickets, and now there's a similar complaint about Esquivel.
"A member of the public has brought a complaint forward about the 49ers, about tickets, and about the police chief and that's all I can tell you," said Independent Police Auditor retired Judge LaDoris Cordell.
San Jose Police Chief Under Fire For Accepting Gifts From San Francisco 49ers
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said the chief realized his mistake and has reimbursed the Niners for the tickets for a pre-season game last year.
"It was not a big mistake and the chief has taken the proper steps to correct it," Reed said.
But Cordell said simply reimbursing the team for the tickets may not be enough.
"No police officers can accept gifts unless those gifts are made available to private persons as well. The duty manual doesn't state anything about reimbursing, in other words, once you break the rule, you can un-break it," she said.
The complaint has been forwarded to San Jose Police Internal Affairs.
The Niners said the tickets were part of a public safety appreciation event held every year, and police and fire chiefs from across the Bay Area are invited.
This is just the latest issue San Jose Police have had to deal with involving the team.
The department has suspended all off-duty work with the 49ers after the investigation into the Ray McDonald case was stalled because an officer was at his home on the night of the alleged domestic violence incident. McDonald has since been cleared of any wrongdoing.
The police department has had a longstanding relationship with the Niners, oftentimes providing security for the team and individual players. That "cozy" relationship has been called into question by many since the McDonald arrest in August.
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