Michael Smolens: San Diego city police union expands its political … – The San Diego Union-Tribune

The San Diego Police Officers Association has long been a force in city elections.

More recently, the law enforcement union has been attempting to spread its influence elsewhere.

The current special election for county supervisor is the POA’s latest incursion into politics beyond the city of San Diego’s jurisdiction. Last year, its political action committee asserted itself in elections for Assembly and Poway City Council.

In all three cases, the union has waged hard-edged campaigns to defeat candidates it deems hostile to police officer interests and bad for public safety. Those candidates have supported tougher standards on police procedures and sometimes have proposed shifting some police funding to other programs also aimed at improving public safety.

The POA believes both positions can limit officers’ ability to fight crime, especially when the San Diego Police Department has not been fully staffed for years. The candidates have said more police accountability is needed, pointing to, among other things, studies that show people of color are stopped by police at a disproportionate rate.

The question arises about what direct benefit POA members get from opposing candidates who would have no direct control over San Diego city police policies or salaries. Perhaps there’s an indirect one. These out-of-town efforts may serve as a warning to San Diego City Council members, the mayor and potential candidates that they could receive the same treatment if they back proposals opposed by the union.

The POA began taking a more expansive and aggressive approach to politics following the election of Sgt. Jared Wilson as its president in January 2022.

In May of last year, Wilson and the union launched a surprising broadside at City Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe, who has advocated for a stronger police review board, changes in use-of-force procedures, raising the bar on when people can be stopped, and diverting some police funding.

The POA essentially blamed Montgomery Steppe for a recent increase in violent crime and homicide in city parks. That was a bogus contention, given Montgomery Steppe did not have direct authority over police and many of her policy proposals had not been approved or implemented. But it made a statement.

That’s not to say Montgomery Steppe’s positions shouldn’t be debated. They have been, especially now that she’s running in Tuesday’s special election for county supervisor. The POA’s political committee and another law enforcement group have been waging a tough, expensive and sometimes misleading campaign to defeat her.

Wilson’s main issue with Montgomery Steppe, along with unsuccessful Poway City Council candidate Hiram Soto and defeated Assembly candidate Georgette Gómez — a former San Diego City Council member — is that all of them supported the proposed PrOTECT Act.

Formally known as the “Preventing Overpolicing Through Equitable Community Treatment,” the proposed law for the city of San Diego is intended to limit so-called pretext stops. That’s when an officer enforces a relatively minor traffic law, like pulling over a car with a broken tail light, in order to investigate potentially more serious crimes.

Proponents say the ordinance would help reduce the racial disparities in police encounters. Police say such stops are a valuable tactic in preventing and solving crimes. Crucially, the PrOTECT Act would require officers to have “probable cause” to stop people — a higher legal threshold than the current standard of “reasonable suspicion.”

“Primarily, the biggest fight we have is over the PrOTECT Act and also over police funding,” Wilson said in an interview.

“If you are supporting the PrOTECT Act,” he added, “we are going to make that well known, no matter where you are running.”

Interestingly, the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association of San Diego is on the sidelines in the supervisor’s race, even though its members are more directly affected by who sits on the county Board of Supervisors.

“We work very closely with the Deputy Sheriffs’ (Association),” Wilson said.

It’s worth noting that although a county supervisor or Assembly member does not vote on San Diego municipal policies, the districts in question do include portions of the city.

That’s not the case in Poway, where the POA’s political activities were more complex. For one thing, Wilson has said he’s planning to run for the Poway City Council next year. He said “that doesn’t factor into” the POA’s decision to oppose Soto.

Soto had been communications director for Alliance San Diego, an organization that says it strives for a more inclusive democracy and supports the PrOTECT Act.

The San Diego police union waged a stark digital and mail campaign against Soto, contending he supported policies that would make the public less safe — similar to the union’s message against Montgomery Steppe.

Soto, a former Union-Tribune reporter, lost in November by nearly 9 percentage points to Brian Pepin, political director of the Republican-leaning Lincoln Club and a favorite of developers.

Soto said the issue of development, and his desire to restrict it in Poway, was really driving the opposition. He pointed to contributions linked to development interests to the police union committee.

In an interview, Soto said the POA was “using public safety as a front,” though he acknowledged “public safety is always a legitimate issue” in campaigns. For context, Montgomery Steppe and Gómez consistently cast pro-development votes on the San Diego City Council.

Wilson’s rise to the top post wasn’t the only thing that led the POA toward a more ambitious political presence. Calls for police reforms and budget cuts grew nationwide in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020.

Staffing shortages and funding challenges are not unique to the San Diego Police Department.

“Times are hurting for police officers,” Wilson said.

Success for the POA in the supervisor’s race would not be without irony, however.

If Montgomery Steppe wins the seat outright on Tuesday, by gaining a majority of votes, or in a November runoff, she would be sworn in almost immediately.

If she loses, her term on the San Diego City Council runs through 2026.

What they said

Matt Rexroad (@MattRexroad), California political consultant, via X (Twitter).

“The school year should not start until after Labor Day.”