SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The San Diego Police Officers Association filed an injunction Wednesday against the City of San Diego. The injunction claims officers have not been allowed to record their interviews regarding their exemptions from the city's employee vaccine mandate.
The San Diego POA claims, according to their injunction, that it is within the Police Officer Bill of Rights that they are able to record any interview that could result in discipline. The POA says that so far, that has not been the case. They are hoping that changes.
"We are not trying to be a roadblock or anything," shares President of the San Diego POA, Jack Schaeffer. "We just feel like we have this right."
Schaeffer says that the city has continually refused officers the right to record their own interviews. The interviews are regarding reasonable accommodations for those who filed exemptions because of the city's vaccine mandate.
"Even though most everything that we do, especially things that can result in serious discipline we get to record," explains Schaeffer. "Just to have a record of it, things like that. For whatever reason, they've decided that's not gonna happen in this case."
That is why the POA filed this injunction.
In it the POA says by prohibiting officers from recording, the City of San Diego is going against its own commitment to transparency.
Schaeffer says that as of now, the Mayor's Office has not given a clear reason explaining why they can not record.
Wednesday, the Mayor's Office declined to comment on the injunction.
"I hope that we are able to at least have record of what was said especially because this could lead to a termination," shares Schaeffer. "So we want to have that, we think we have a right to do that."
As of Tuesday, according to the City of San Diego's records, the POA has filed 10 medical exemptions and 478 religious exemptions. Schaeffer says that as of now, the interviews have been paused, as they wait to see if a judge might see things differently.
Schaeffer shares, "We just hope that the reasonable accommodations are handled properly, reasonably, [that] they are actually looking for a way to balance keeping people safe, and accommodate for people who need the assistance."
