Constant backs new memorial for SJ's public safety officials Friday, January 11, 2008 By Stephen Baxter City Councilman Pete Constant remembers the day in 1989 when two San Jose police officers were shot dead at Fifth and E. Santa Clara streets. Constant was a reserve officer at the time, in charge of dispatching other reserves. He heard the shootout--which involved a mentally ill man who reached for an officer's gun--unfold on the police radio. "It was a day that was pretty much indelible in my mind," Constant said, who represents West San Jose's District 1. "I knew both of the officers, I was very new, and it was three months before I became a police officer. It's what made the danger real." To honor San Jose's 14 police and 11 firefighters who have died on duty since the formation of the departments, Constant is pushing for a memorial for public safety officers to be built outside city hall. A committee is expected to be formed in January or February to consider the memorial, which would be privately funded. "I think it's important that there's a memorial that reminds the general public of the ultimate sacrifice by city employees to keep people safe," Constant said. The committee will include residents, police, firefighters, artists and city officials. The form of the monument has not been decided, but it could be as simple as a three-dimensional plaque, city art officials said. Constant and others expressed interest in listing the names of the San Jose police and firefighters who havegiven their lives. Barbara Goldstein, San Jose's public art director, said the cost of a simple monument would start at $50,000. Because the 1989 shootout took place outside a Winchell's doughnut shop where the new city hall now stands, there are two bronze plaques in the sidewalk along Santa Clara Street commemorating the officers. Constant indicated that he wants to build something more prominent. Bobby Lopez, president of the San Jose Police Officers Association, said the union would raise money for the memorial. Sharing the monument with firefighters is not a problem, he added. "I think it's long overdue," Lopez said. "I hope we'll have input on what it would look like." Families of fallen firefighters and police also are likely to participate in the process. Constant first proposed the idea at a Rules Committee meeting in June 2007, and he met with art officials in December. Goldstein, the art director, said that if the memorial committee agrees on a concept and the art competition is swift, a monument could be built by the end of 2008. Goldstein added that the project appealed to her. "I see value in honoring people who have given their lives for their jobs," she said.