Citing threats, San Jose police order cops double up on patrol

Citing a threatening atmosphere against law enforcement, San Jose police took the unusual step Wednesday of ordering officers to ride in pairs on New Year’s Eve.

Department officials directed that two officers per car patrol the city each shift “to ensure officer safety,” said Officer Albert Morales, a department spokesman.

San Jose police took the action more than a week after two New York City officers were shot to death in their cruiser by a man angered by recent police killings of African Americans. The shooter then took his own life.

Morales said San Jose police knew of no specific threats against their officers. But he added that there have been “nonspecific threats received by the San Jose Police Department referencing violence against law enforcement on New Year’s Eve.”

He said such police across the nation had been alerted to threats mentioning that the night was designated as “Kill a Pig Night” and “the New Year’s Eve Massacre.”

“The San Jose Police Department takes all threats seriously, and we want to protect our officers,” Morales said. He said there were no plans to extend the order beyond New Year’s Eve.

With the exception of officers training rookies and those assigned to a special operations unit, San Jose patrol officers typically ride solo at night.

Oakland police also doubled up for New Year’s Eve, citing “planned events throughout the city,” including protests. Officers have doubled up in the past on New Year’s Eve to look for people shooting off fireworks or firing guns into the air to celebrate.

In San Francisco, where police officers already ride in pairs at night, officers at all stations were alerted to threats against law enforcement, said Officer Gordon Shyy, a police spokesman.

California Highway Patrol officers already ride two per car at night because “as a state police force, we are less concentrated than a local police force would be,” said CHP Officer Daniel Hill.

Hill said individual CHP offices in the Bay Area could elect to have their officers ride in pairs earlier than the usual 10 p.m start time, “based on their own needs.”

Doubling up in the same car makes sense, Hill said, because it means that an officer has instant backup. “It allows for a second set of eyes to see any violations that may occur in front of you,” he said.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee