Letters: Police are the wrong people for crisis intervention

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Police are wrong people for crisis intervention

Re: “Police unit sparks worry” (Page A1, Feb. 22).

In its Feb. 20 article, this paper claims San Jose Police Department Neighborhood Quality of Life officers receive advanced crisis intervention training similar to that of counselors. That comparison is misleading.

Counselors earn advanced degrees and complete thousands of hours of supervised clinical work. SJPD officers have nowhere near that education or experience.

This paper also previously reported that after SJPD made CIT mandatory, department statistics on injuries and deaths involving people in mental health or substance use crises worsened.

If the goal is a safe and effective response to homelessness, mental health and substance use, a police-first model is the wrong approach. A behavioral health-led response staffed by clinicians and social workers would be more appropriate — and likely more cost-effective.

Andrew Siegler
San Jose

Homeless people need our full attention

Re: “What I learned about love in a homeless camp” (Page A8, March 1).

The essay gives a different viewpoint about homelessness, which shows how people need both dignity and belonging to establish their basic human rights. The existence of shared spaces and shared responsibilities with shared emotional protection creates a new understanding that street life actually leads to more than just hopelessness.

The existence of love in these camps should not lead people to think that homelessness functions as an acceptable way of life. The actual lesson shows that people choose to live outside because they prefer to stay connected with others in order to achieve stability both indoors and outdoors.

People who experience these situations need our full attention and complete understanding to resolve their issues.

Zakria Ahsan
San Jose

Billionaires should look to past for guidance

What exactly do the current crop of billionaires in the United States — Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and others — plan to do with accumulating more and more billions? Did they figure out a way to take it all with them when they kick the proverbial bucket? None of us can escape that fact. Yet, philanthropic contributions from these people seem very limited.

There are some exceptions: Bill Gates is using his wealth for good causes — health care for underserved people around the world; Warren Buffet teamed up with him.

In earlier times, we have seen philanthropy from wealthy individuals: Alfred Nobel gave money to set up the Nobel prizes that recognize fundamental advances in science and literature; Leland and Jane Stanford founded a world-class university in 1885; philanthropists Louis Bamberger and Caroline Bamberger Fuld helped establish the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

Nagavarapu Mohan
San Mateo

Homelessness poses hard questions for us

I’d like to thank state Sen. Dave Cortese for speaking with me at the Unhoused Health Fair. It may have seemed like a small gesture, but to me it felt like something else entirely: recognition. Dignity. Simple, powerful acknowledgment that I exist.

Since Oct. 5, 2025, I’ve been living in a transitional housing unit through the county’s managed care. I’m grateful for it. And yet I find myself suspended in what I can only describe as the “unhoused gap” — not fully homeless, but not truly housed. Not rooted. Not secure. Existing in the fragile space between stability and the street.

If humanity endures another 200 years, we’ll look back at this era and ask ourselves hard questions. Did we protect the vulnerable, or test how much they could endure?

I believe that we’re meant to care for one another in systems that prevent people from falling back into the very circumstances they’re fighting to escape.

Teresa Chase
Campbell

For seniors, visits mean more than services

Re: “More older people coping with isolation” (Page A1, Feb. 28).

The article in your Feb. 28 edition about isolation and loneliness in our senior population highlights a serious and growing problem. Adults 75 and older are the fastest-growing demographic in our country, and, as the article notes, a significant segment of that population is experiencing loneliness and isolation.

Our Santa Clara-based nonprofit, Heart of the Valley Services for Seniors, has been providing home repair, yard work, transportation and other free services to seniors in West Santa Clara Valley since 1987, to help them continue to live independent lives. The companionship arising from visits by our volunteers while providing these services is often as meaningful and fulfilling to our seniors as the service itself.

David Muhlitner
President, Heart of the Valley Services for Seniors
San Jose

Trump turns to old diversion — war

Re: “Trump: Supreme leader killed” (Page A1, March 1).

This latest action by our president seems to be yet another diversion from his association with Jeffrey Epstein.

Margaret Thatcher took this action successfully in the 80s with the war against Argentina over the Falkland Islands, diverting attention from the UK mine closures. Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be doing this to divert attention from his three corruption charges, as well as his arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes.

Where will it all end?

Dave Thomas
San Jose