Police shooting of Daniel Son Pham on May 10, 2009

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

It has now been more than three months since officers of the San Jose Police Department shot and killed Daniel Son Pham in the back yard of his home. Despite this extended period of time the city has yet to release any information regarding an investigation into this matter. No autopsy report has been released and neither has there been a report issued detailing an investigation into the officer’s actions. In fact it is becoming apparent that no investigation was ever performed.

I, the undersigned, together with the family of Daniel Son Pham and the Vietnamese-American Voters of Northern California, formally request that the city release any and all findings that it has made regarding the shooting, along with the 911 tape, the autopsy report, and the records of the officers involved in the shooting. If no official report has been made then we request that a commission be assigned and that a formal investigation be made.

This issue is of particular importance to the members of the Vietnamese Community as it clearly repeats the recent case of Bich Cau Tran, also shot to death by the San Jose police in her home. Once again, one of our sons and daughters has met with death at the hands of the very officials whose responsibility it is to protect us, and we demand to know the reason why.

Without a full and critical investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Daniel Pham no member of our community will ever feel safe. The trust between the community and its government has been seriously harmed by this lack of action. If this is to be remedied then the city must act to determine the underlying cause of this unnecessary tragedy and to take the remedial steps necessary to ensure that a case like this will never happen again.