The San Jose Police Department’s Airport Division is part of the Special Operations Division within the Bureau of Field Operations.  Working with TSA, FBI and other local, state and federal agencies the Airport Division provides security and traffic enforcement in and around the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport.

For more information about the Airport Division, please click here.

Mission

The primary purpose of the Air Support Unit (ASU) is to provide aerial services for units within the San Jose Police Department and other agencies within the County of Santa Clara. The ASU’s main objective is to provide aerial support for police ground units on matters relating to public and officer safety. An emphasis is placed on pursuits, apprehension of fleeing suspects and searches for missing persons who are "at risk."  The ASU also is trained on personnel insertions and rescue operations using the short-haul method.  The ASU flies an Airbus AS-350. The staff consists of one sergeant, two officer pilots and two officer tactical observers. AIR-3 normally flies seven days a week when not down for maintenance.

Definitions

• AIR-3 - SJPD's helicopter
• FAA - Federal Aviation Administration
• PAO - Public Aircraft Operations as defined by the FAA are firefighting, law enforcement, aeronautical research, or managing natural resources

Transparency

• Issues, concerns, or questions to SJPD AIR-3 flights should be made to Internal Affairs or the IPA (Independent Police Auditor) 

Operations and Noise

While on routine patrol the police aircraft will normally be operated between 800-1,000 ft above ground level or higher. The Pilot in Charge has the discretion to operate at an altitude he deems appropriate while on a call or a mission. The Pilot in Charge will be mindful and have empathy for noise during operations.

AIR3 is used for law enforcement purposes, thus is classified as a Public Aircraft Operations (POA) aircraft. Aircraft used in Public Aircraft Operations are exempt from many of the requirements in FAA regulations applicable to civil aircraft.

Though “residences” are mentioned as part of the “noise-sensitive” areas, the intent is to address regular commercial air traffic (not PAO’s) over serene outdoor public lands such as national parks.

The San Jose Police Bomb Squad is the largest squad in the South Bay. All squad members are certified Bomb Technicians and are graduates of the Hazardous Devices School (HDS).

The Bomb Squad is classified as a “Type 1” squad, by the DOJ and DHS, which means that we are staffed, trained, and equipped to handle any type of incident in our area of responsibility involving explosives or weapons of mass destruction.

Squad members are available 24/7 and are assigned to being on-call every six weeks, in a two person team configuration. The squad trains a minimum of twice a month for ten hours or sixty hours per quarter. Every three years all members must return to HDS and successfully pass a one week intense re-certification course sponsored by the United States Government. The Department’s squad has the very latest in equipment and response vehicles allowing the Bomb Squad to be truly state of the art.

Each member is certified in explosives demolition, hazardous materials, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

The main job of the Bomb Squad is to render safe explosives, improvised explosive devices (IED), respond to suspicious packages, investigate explosive related incidents, perform explosive breaching, handle unexploded ordnance (UXO), process post blast scenes and handle large amounts of dangerous fireworks.

The Canine Unit consists of two teams of officers with five dogs on each team and two supervisors. Officers assigned to the Canine Unit purchase their own dogs and are allowed to work with the animal for seven years. The mission of the Canine Unit is to deploy specially trained officers and canines to support the Bureau of Field Operations. They accomplish this by performing the following duties:

• Searching for fleeing felons
• Conducting building searches
• Providing direct assistance to patrol officers on a variety of different calls for service, and
• Providing demonstrations to various community organizations

When unassigned to specific events, canine units also perform direct patrol duties by initiating field contacts with subjects engaged in suspicious activity and making arrests when criminal violations occur.

Downtown Services Unit’s (DSU) mission is to address crime and quality of life issues in the downtown core area.  DSU addresses crimes ranging from infractions to violent felony crimes through uniformed patrols and plainclothes enforcement. 

The Mobile Emergency Response Group and Equipment (MERGE) Unit is how the San Jose Police Department refers to its “SWAT” team.

MERGE consists of two ten person teams and two supervisors. The MERGE Unit is responsible for supporting the Bureau of Field Operations by providing special skills and equipment to address critical incidents involving threats to life. In addition, the MERGE Unit assists the Secret Service with dignitary protection and provides direct support to patrol personnel in the apprehension of violent criminals.

MERGE has also adopted responsibility for apprehending career criminals and violent offenders through the cooperative efforts of the Bureau of Investigations and other outside agencies.

To accomplish these missions, officers work both in a covert capacity (plainclothes and “cold” cars) and the more traditional MERGE method of operation (uniforms and unmarked police vehicles). All officers are highly trained in a variety of different weaponry and work closely in a team setting.

The Metro Unit is comprised of specially trained Bureau of Field Operation’s personnel who are primarily responsible for establishing a rapid response program that may be implemented within any part of the City.

The Unit coordinates with the Bureau of Investigations and Bureau of Field Operations Captains to identify areas within the city that are affected by gang-related violence and aggressively enforces all associated crimes. Metro Unit personnel coordinate with the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force and other community and school organizations, bringing together their combined expertise to intervene, prevent and educate those involved in adult and youth gang situations in San Jose.

The Metro Unit gives special attention to illegal narcotic law enforcement, with focus on the street-level user and dealer, and utilizes both overt and covert operations on a daily basis to achieve the established objectives.

The primary mission of Street Crimes is to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods throughout the City of San Jose, with an emphasis on areas that are most impacted by nuisance crime problems, including but not limited to illegal drug activity, trespass violations, prostitution, vandalism, blighted property, and other related crimes.

Street Crimes Unit members utilize a combination of Community Policing, high-visibility uniformed patrols, plainclothes enforcement, and bicycle patrols to proactively seek out and prevent criminal activity.

Street Crimes Unit members are expected to work collaboratively with other City Departments, businesses and community organizations as needed with an emphasis on education and the connection of City services.

The San Jose Police Department’s Tactical Negotiator Unit (TNU) responds to crisis situations where the use of a specially trained negotiator is needed in an attempt to bring the situation to a positive conclusion. TNU’s primary goal is to communicate and negotiate through the crisis with the suspect to facilitate the safe release of any person(s) at risk and bring the crisis to a safe resolution. TNU is present at situations that require a trained crisis intervention specialist. Those situations can include but are not limited to the following: barricaded individuals, hostage situations, barricaded suicidal subjects, terrorist motivated situations, and high-risk search warrants.

The San Jose Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit is part of the Special Operations Division within the Bureau of Field Operations. The primary duty of the Traffic Enforcement Unit (TEU) is the enforcement of traffic laws in order to reduce traffic collisions, their resulting injuries, and to facilitate the safe and expedient flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. These efforts result in safer roadways and streets, fewer fatalities, injuries, and reduces property damage. The Unit concentrates its enforcement efforts in the areas with the highest collision rates within the city of San José. These efforts have proven to be effective in reducing the numbers of collisions in the City.

The San Jose Police Department’s Unmanned Aerial Systems Unit was formally established in 2020. The unit is maintained within the Bomb Unit and predominantly flies missions in support of Special Operation’s events.

Public safety missions include the following:

• Search & Rescue
• Crime Scene Documentation
• Hazardous Materials
• Barricaded Suspects
• Hostage Situations
• Active Shooters
• High-Risk Search Warrants/Tactical Operations.

For more information about UAS deployments, please click here.

In 1994, the San Jose Police Department created the Violent Crimes Enforcement Team (VCET). The establishment of VCET was a result of collaboration from stakeholders of the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force (MGPTF) and the San Jose Police Department (SJPD). Its mission was to work collaboratively with the MGPTF to reduce youth violence, utilizing a three-pronged strategy of Prevention, Intervention, and Suppression. From the onset, VCET was fully embraced by members of the SJPD and the community. VCET was not only effective with its suppression efforts, but also was held in high regard for its prevention and intervention work with the MGPTF and the community.

Due to budget cuts, the Department eliminated VCET and consolidated gang enforcement into the Metro Unit in 2010. With the resurgence of gang violence in 2013, and in an effort to suppress the impacts, then Police Chief Larry Esquivel re-established a gang enforcement unit and renamed it GSU (Gang Suppression Unit). Members of GSU and many other Department members expressed a strong desire to bring back the original VCET name and replace the GSU designation. VCET had great historical value to the members of the Department and due to its history, a much more recognizable name amongst the community in our gang enforcement efforts. In May, 2016 Chief Garcia re-named the Gang Suppression Unit to VCET.