Having attended various community meetings, he is aware of some important issues in the area, such as transients, gang activity, alcohol consumption and after-hour use of Willow Street Frank Bramhall Park. He visits the park—located at the intersection of Willow Street and Camino Ramon, near Meridian and Minnesota—two times daily during his shift.

After spending 4¹/2 years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, where he faced murders and other violent crimes, Willow Glen seems comparatively calm. The main problems here are neighbor disputes, family arguments and noise disturbances, he says.

Since no clubs, bars or coffeehouses are open very late on Lincoln Avenue, there are hardly any calls for service. But gang activity and other crimes occur on the outskirts of Willow Glen, he says, adding that the Willow Glen Liquor Store, 1110 Lincoln Ave., received a citation lately for violating its liquor license, which prohibits it from selling alcohol to an intoxicated person.

"San Jose has all the same problems as a bigger city but on a smaller scale," Foster says.

Photograph by Sean Penello Crime Control: After arresting a subject for drunken driving, San Jose Police Officer Daniel Ichige informs the other passengers of the situation.

Foster, who is assigned to the "swing shift," patrols the city streets from 3 p.m. until 1 a.m. As a field-training officer, he trains recruits who have just graduated from the academy.

Since Willow Glen is one of two field-training areas in San Jose, new officers come here to learn how to perform service calls, resolve disputes between families or neighbors and handle other basic police work.

On Oct. 19, Foster uses a sergeant's car to escort civilians on a ride along—a crime prevention program that educates members of the community about the police department.

The ride along program is open to the public but often passengers are members of the Citizen's Academy, who are getting an overview of police work. The academy informs participants about the police department through short courses, and ride alongs. Academy members can also practice firing a gun at a shooting range.

A ride along is also a requirement for dispatchers in training so they can get firsthand knowledge about what happens on the other side of the radio.

The sergeant's car doesn't have a barrier between the front and back seats like regular patrol cars because sergeants do not take passengers to jail. Instead, one sergeant has control over each officer in his or her district.


The Technology

But like all cars in the department, this four-door sedan is fully equipped with a radio, bubble lights, a siren and a Mobile Digital Terminal (MDT)—a Panasonic computer that has revolutionized dispatching in the past five years.

Instead of utilizing valuable radio airtime, the MDT screen shows calls from the dispatcher. All pertinent information is shown, such as who the reporting party is, which district the call is in, map coordinates and the level of priority on a scale of one to five, one being the most important.

With the MDT, officers can run license plate numbers, find out whether a person is on parole, inform dispatchers of their whereabouts and clear a call once it has been taken care of.

Photograph by Sean Penello Police Technology: Terry Foster works on the mobile digital terminal Panasonic computer that has revolutionized dispatching in the past five years.

First Foster goes on a patrol of Willow Street Frank Bramhall Park, where he finds a parked red Ford Explorer. After shining his light inside the car, a man comes out and says he is on a date and listening to music.

"Through my experience, looking at behavior, the way a person dresses and their demeanor can tell me if he or she is a bad [person]," says Foster, who encouraged the couple to leave.

To surprise late-night visitors at Willow Street Frank Bramhall Park, Foster drives over the curb, into the park and shines his lights to check for loiterers. Occasionally he parks and walks through the park and other officers ride bicycles to check the area out.

Since officers now regularly patrol the park at night, fewer citations are given for drinking in public or using the park after dark than were six months ago.


Norteños and Sureños

When a noise disturbance call comes from Richmond and Menker avenues, Foster describes the area as on the outskirts of Willow Glen, low-income apartment complexes with gang activity. Most service calls dispatch two officers, but since it is between the swing and midnight shift, six police cars are at the scene.

To deal with gangs, SJPD has a database with pictures of gang members, photos of their tattoos and information about their affiliation—those who are affiliated with the north, Norteños, or south, Sureños. For the past year a gang abatement program has been in place in this area. There is a restraining order against gangs. If gang members are caught, they are arrested and incarcerated. Any new gang members identified can be added to the court order without going through the court, Foster says.

Two of the juveniles at the scene are on probation and wearing blue belts, representing the Sureños gang. The officers ask them to turn their music off, fill out information cards about their tattoos, street names and gang affiliation, contact the juveniles' probation officers and drive the gang members home.

Recently a gang-related stabbing occurred at Willow and Vine streets. Young skateboarders yelled something at people in another car at the Wienerschnitzel. A gang member from the other car got out and stabbed a passenger with a screwdriver in the chest, puncturing both lungs. The victim lived.

According to Foster, most gang problems in the area occur with these two Hispanic gangs, as well as some African American and Vietnamese gangs on the east side of San Jose. Gangs also claim Biebrach Park, near Virginia Street and Jerome Avenue in Willow Glen, as their own, Foster says.

"Gangs are like dogs," Foster says. "They move into a neighborhood and try to harass people. They let them know it's their neighborhood and territory through burglaries, robberies, narcotics and fights."

Photograph by Sean Penello Gang Prevention: A group of San Jose police officers stops a gang suspect and checks his body for distinguishing scars and tattoos to properly identify him. To deal with gangs, SJPD has a database with pictures of gang members, photos of their tattoos and information about their gang affiliation.

Growing up in Northern California, Foster was always interested in the police force. He had no family in the police department but while in high school decided law enforcement was something he wanted to do.

"Besides helping people in the community, I want to help people get rid of problems that arise that are creating problems for the community," says Foster, who also served in the military. "My whole career has been service-oriented."

Foster has two daughters, ages 16 and 20. The older daughter has been on a ride along and may want to become a police officer, he says.

Another aspect of his job that he likes is working outside. Even though he is in a car patrolling the streets a majority of the time, he is not confined to an office.

"No one is looking over your shoulder," Foster adds. "Most sergeants trust their officers. It is also flexible, because something different happens every day. You never know what to expect."


Field test

After Officer Daniel Ichige pulled over a car for a vehicle violation, he discovered that the driver had been drinking alcohol. Three patrol cars were at the scene—just outside Willow Glen at Bird and Auzerais avenues—when Foster arrived. Officer Ichige was administering several tests to the driver, Jose Farias Lopez of San Jose, to determine whether he was intoxicated.

Ichige, who is from Japan, learned Spanish in order to save time calling an officer who could translate. He asked the driver in Spanish to hold his leg up. Then he asked him to walk in a straight line. Lopez failed both tests.

Through a Breathalyzer test, it was determined that Lopez' blood alcohol level was .13. The legal limit is .08.

While Lopez was being arrested, Ichige found "the smallest amount" of cocaine he has ever seen someone in possession of.

Lopez was charged with possessing narcotics and driving under the influence of alcohol. In districts that cover the Willow Glen area, 22 narcotic felonies were reported since the last records update in the third quarter of 2001.

This will be an expensive lesson. It will cost money to go to court and have the car impounded. Lopez' license will also be suspended, and he may only be allowed to drive to and from work.


Observations

Upon arrival at 415 Willow St., where a noise disturbance had been reported, a minor said that her cousin's 18th birthday party had just ended, so no report was filed.

Foster's shift ends with a call from the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Someone was voluntarily admitted to the psychiatric ward and then left.

Upon arrival, another officer discovered that an intoxicated boyfriend had tried to admit his girlfriend. The couple had left the hospital and was at a nearby bar, where the other officer picked up the girlfriend and drove her home.

Each day the number of service calls varies but this Saturday evening there was less crime, possibly because people are inside when the weather is overcast, and on warm evenings they are out and about.

"Even criminals have common sense," Foster says.

The swing shift is usually busy because people are getting off work and going to nightclubs or parties. Police officers on the midnight shift are busy again around 2 a.m., when the bars close and people drive home, he says.

But even during the day shift, from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., when most people are working, there are still people who are out driving drunk, he says.