Deputies union demands action after radio failures during carjacking call

The San Benito County Deputy Sheriff’s Association is calling for immediate action after radio communication failures endangered officers during a fast-moving and violent response to a carjacking incident last Tuesday in San Jose. The union stated that these communication breakdowns “directly affected deputies during the response.””Emotions are very high, and this has been an issue with the deputy sheriffs and with our county that’s been going on for over a decade. So I think that they’re at the point where they’re tired of the excuses for this not getting done,” said Eric Taylor, the San Benito County sheriff. According to the union, some deputies did not hear radio transmissions as a perimeter was being set or receive updates on the suspect’s location. Although new radios were purchased six months ago, the deployment has been delayed due to staffing shortages and a missing piece of equipment that still requires funding approval. The sheriff’s office noted that the county owns and maintains the communications system.”You’re having a bunch of cops trying to run a capital improvement project without any experience or expertise,” said Taylor.”We do have all of the equipment that we need outside of these consulates that are needed for us to talk to our dispatch center, and so that’s really where the holdup is right now,” Taylor added.The union emphasized that the issue is not about assigning blame but acknowledging a clear and ongoing safety problem that remains unresolved despite an available solution.”I will bear the responsibility, along with the county executive officer and county council, to make sure that we need to be pushing a little bit harder to make sure that this happens,” said Taylor.Moving forward, the union insists that deploying the new radios should be a priority.

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