Tag Archives: Vallejo police

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Vallejo CA, Vallejo Times-Herald

Citing pattern of unconstitutional misconduct, Dept. of Justice announces stipulated judgment with Vallejo Police Department

Note from the NorCal ACLU – Solano Chapter, co-led by Kris Oyota Kelley and Vallejo mayoral candidate Andrea Sorce:

This morning, California Attorney General Rob Bonta held a press conference to announce a stipulated judgment (consent decree) with the Vallejo Police Department.

This agreement compels the City of Vallejo to implement long-overdue reforms and establishes an independent court-supervised monitor to ensure progress. It will not solve all of our police accountability issues, but it is a major step in the right direction for public safety in Vallejo.

We appreciate everyone who signed the petition and will keep you updated as our efforts progress. The ACLU NorCal Criminal Justice team will be investing significant resources in Vallejo going forward, and we will continue to push for the remainder of our petition demands.

[Note from BenIndy: There is still a lot of work to do – please sign the petition by clicking this link. ]

Attorney General Bonta Announces Stipulated Judgment with the Vallejo Police Department to Strengthen Accountability, Police Policies and Practices

Click the image to view the document. You will be redirected to the website of the Office of the Attorney General.
Sunday, October 15, 2023
[Images added by BenIndy]

VALLEJO – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced that the California Department of Justice (DOJ) has entered into a stipulated judgment with the city of Vallejo and the Vallejo Police Department (VPD) regarding reforms to VPD’s policies and practices. The stipulated judgment continues and expands upon the reform work started under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the DOJ and VPD. The agreement announced today resolves DOJ’s complaint alleging the VPD engaged in a pattern and practice of unconstitutional conduct. As part of the agreement, the city of Vallejo and VPD will undertake a comprehensive set of actions — to be led by an Oversight and Reform Evaluator — to promote public safety, reduce unlawful uses of force, eliminate racial and identity disparities, strengthen accountability systems, continue to increase support for officers, and protect the statutory and constitutional rights of the people of Vallejo.

“Maintaining trust between our law enforcement and the communities they serve is a foundational part of public safety,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Today’s agreement with the city of Vallejo and its police department is another important step toward correcting injustices, building trust, and enhancing public safety for the people of Vallejo. We cannot afford to be complacent. The reforms laid out in the agreement are needed and necessary to continue healing the relationship between law enforcement and the community. It’s past time the people of Vallejo have a police department that listens and guarantees that their civil rights are protected. My office is committed to staying engaged, working collaboratively with VPD and the city and ensuring a fair, thorough, and transparent process.”

Heather Skinner, Ronell Foster’s mother-in-law, speaks about transparency during a press conference held by the office of lawyer John Burris in front of City Hall in Vallejo. Ronell Foster was killed by VPD in 2018. | Chris Riley / Times-Herald.

“The City of Vallejo is encouraged by the progress made to date by our staff and the Department.  We are optimistic about the continuation of our collaboration with the California Department of Justice and its team in the next phase of this important work,” said Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell. “We have made significant progress but there is still more to do.  The City Council is unanimously committed to seeing our efforts through to conclusion. It is the goal of the City of Vallejo and the VPD to continue to build on the progress made to date, to strengthen our relationships and advance our efforts to build trust with the community.”

“The Vallejo Police Department is committed to the completion of the remaining original recommendations and the additional recommendations under the new Agreement,” said Vallejo Police Department Interim Chief Jason Ta. “Improvements will be made to new and existing policies and procedures, which we are confident will increase accountability, efficiency, transparency, and community partnerships while at the same time improving relationships with the public and building mutual trust and respect from the community we serve.”

Protesters face off against police officers during a peaceful march over the killing of Sean Monterrosa, the 22-year-old San Francisco man, who was shot and killed by a Vallejo Police officer in 2020. | Chris Riley / Times-Herald.

“This Agreement is a continuation of the reform process Vallejo Police Department started three years ago,” said Vallejo City Manager Michael Malone. “City management and Vallejo Police Department are committed to engaging the community and dedicating the resources needed to ensure this ongoing effort is successful within the terms of our new Agreement.”

“During the past 3 years of the City’s collaborative agreement with the California Department of Justice we have fostered a positive working relationship that has produced significant results,” said Vallejo City Attorney Veronica Nebb. “Our work is not complete and we look forward to continuing our joint efforts with the California Department of Justice for the benefit of the community, the Department and the City.”

On June 5, 2020, DOJ, the city of Vallejo, and VPD entered into a MOU for VPD to institute a comprehensive modernized policing plan that included implementing 45 reform recommendations made by VPD’s expert consultants, as well as additional review from DOJ to expand upon and add any additional recommendations needed to modernize VPD’s current policies and practices, assist with implementation of the recommendations, and independently evaluate VPD’s compliance with the recommendations. The California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to enter into an MOU with VPD to reform its policing came in light of several high-profile uses of force, including a number of officer-involved shootings.

Alicia Saddler speaks outside City Hall at a rally addressing police shootings in Vallejo, Calif., on Feb. 28, 2019. Saddler’s brother, Angel Ramos, was killed by VPD in 2017. | Brock Stoneham / NBC News.

When the MOU expired on June 5, 2023, VPD had achieved substantial compliance with 20 out of the 45 agreed-upon recommendations. During the review of VPD’s systems and practices under the MOU, DOJ concluded that VPD failed to uniformly and adequately enforce the law, based in part, because of defective or inadequate policies, practices, and procedures. DOJ is currently seeking a judgment with court oversight requiring VPD and the city of Vallejo to implement the remaining reforms, and to implement additional reforms addressing civilian complaints, bias-free policing, stops, searches, seizures and arrest, and ongoing oversight of these reforms.

The parties have agreed on a comprehensive five-year plan to address the numerous areas that need improvement and modernization to bring VPD into alignment with contemporary best practices and ensure constitutional policing. VPD will implement the remaining recommendations that have not been completed from the 45 Recommendations contained in the May 2020 report titled “Vallejo Police Department: Independent Assessment of Operations, Internal Review Systems and Agency Culture” (“2020 Recommendations”). Additionally, under the agreement VPD will implement additional recommendations, including to:

  • Address unreasonable force by holding officers and supervisors accountable for not identifying, adequately investigating, or addressing force that is unreasonable or otherwise contrary to VPD policy; and refer uses of force that may violate law or VPD’s use of force policy to their Professional Standards Division (internal affairs) for further investigation or review.
  • Enhance, promote, and strengthen partnerships within the community, to continue engaging constructively with the community to ensure collaborative problem-solving and bias-free policing, and to increase transparency and community confidence in VPD.
  • Utilize its Chief’s Advisory Board (CAB) and the Police Oversight and Accountability Commission (POAC), to continue to develop and amend significant policies that impact the community, including to its use of force policies, community-policing strategy and policies, bias-free policing policies, and civilian complaint policies.
  • Develop a policy that defines and limits the use of pretextual stops.
  • Enhance and revise training with respect to investigatory stops, reiterating that race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, disability, or sexual orientation are not to be used as a factor in establishing reasonable suspicion or probable cause, except as part of actual and credible descriptions of a specific suspect.
  • Prohibit officers from conducting consent searches during consensual encounters. Officers may not conduct a consent search after detaining a subject unless an officer reasonably suspects that the subject has contraband or evidence related to that detention, and the consent must be documented on body camera footage or a signed consent form.
  • Ensure stops, searches, and seizures comply with the law, as part of an effective overall crime prevention strategy that does not contribute to counterproductive tension with the community.
  • Commit to providing bias-free services and enforcing laws in a way that is professional, nondiscriminatory, fair, and equitable.
  • Work with the Evaluator to develop a policy and protocol for responding to calls involving a person in mental health crisis or suffering from a mental health disability. The policy and protocol will include utilizing professional civilian staff, who are trained professionals in responding to mental health crises, to respond when appropriate and available.
  • Develop and implement policies, guidelines, and training to ensure all supervisors and managers:
    • Exercise appropriate supervisory oversight
    • Conduct objective and impartial investigations
    • Are held accountable for meeting agency standards and expectations
    • Engage with and listen to community feedback
    • Incorporate community feedback when able and appropriate
    • Develop and evaluate policing strategies and tactics reflective of contemporary best community policing practices
  • Conduct an ongoing audit of incidents where an officer points a firearm at a member of the public or brandishes a firearm in the presence of a member of the public to ensure that its officers are not drawing a firearm solely based on the mere existence of a potential risk (e.g., public contact, pedestrian/traffic stop).

A copy of the stipulated judgment is available here, and a copy of the complaint is available here.

Andrea Sorce, Vallejo CA, Vallejo Times-Herald

Accountability advocate Andrea Sorce announces run for Vallejo mayor

Andrea Sorce, an economics professor at Diablo Valley College, who chairs Vallejo’s Surveillance Advisory Board and co-founded and co-led ACLU – Northern California’s Solano County chapter, is running for mayor to bring  accountability, transparency, and economic growth to Vallejo. | Image by Askari Sowonde.

Vallejo Times-Herald, by Daniel Egitto, October 4, 2023 

The chair of Vallejo’s Surveillance Advisory Board and co-founder of the local American Civil Liberties Union chapter is running for mayor, promising shakeups in the city’s “status quo.”

Andrea Sorce, a frequent attendee at Vallejo City Council meetings and outspoken critic of the Vallejo Police Department, is running on a platform of transparency, accountability and economic growth. She joins Realtor and former Vice Mayor Pippin Dew in the race to fill the seat of Mayor Robert McConnell when his term ends in January 2025.

Vallejo mayoral candidate Andrea Sorce reviews her notes prior to speaking at the May 10, 2023 meeting of the Vallejo City Council, as Chief Assistant City Attorney Randy Risner looks on. | Geoffrey King for Open Vallejo.

“I think for me, it was seeing the community so frustrated with the status quo and seeing what I feel is a lack of leadership,” Sorce said. “I feel like Vallejo deserves better leadership, and the community for years now has just lost trust in City Hall.”

Sorce took aim at what she sees as “a culture of covering up wrongdoing.” She wants to see “a trusted independent investigator” look into former police Chief Shawny Williams’ resignation last November, as well as the unhoused people who died on the city’s watch in Project RoomKey.

“I think when you have a city where people that do the right thing are punished and people that do the wrong thing are promoted, that is going to deter good people from wanting to work for the city,” she said.

Sorce, an economics professor at Diablo Valley College who previously served in the Peace Corps, said she also wants to see more tax dollars “going to the right problems” in Vallejo – issues like the city’s poor roads and insufficient housing. And she wants to help develop more concrete plans for improving the city’s economy.

The candidate accused local leaders of sometimes taking an “us-versus-them” approach to their own community, deterring people from getting more involved in local politics through policies such as limiting physical access to Vallejo City Hall. Moreover, she blamed the city’s current police officer shortage on a “lack of accountability for wrongdoing, and a lack of leadership, and a lack of support for the folks that have tried to take it on.”

The Vallejo Police Officers’ Association has said the recent wave of resignations results from “the city council’s continued disrespect for our officers and the work that we do.” But Sorce argued that the police department’s culture is deterring many officers from wanting to work there.

“The criticism has never been anti-police. It’s been anti-corruption,” she said, referring to her own track record of fiery public comments.

Sorce believes Vallejo has “made some real progress” in recent elections. She said the city has a long way to go, but she has faith that it can get there.

“It’s doable,” she said. “It’s not easy, but it’s doable. I think there’s real cause for optimism.”

For more information about Andrea, visit the Vallejo Sun’s tagged collection of posts naming or quoting her.

While you’re there, consider supporting independent news in Solano County with a subscription. Per the BenIndy’s Editor Emeritus Roger Straw, “the Vallejo Sun is celebrating it’s second anniversary, and has earned my respect with excellent in-depth reporting on police, local government, schools, arts, and local events.  Recently, I re-subscribed with a voluntary increase in my annual renewal amount. You can subscribe here.”

You can also read more about Andrea at Open Vallejo. Open Vallejo is an “award-winning, independent, non-partisan, nonprofit newsroom serving the public interest.” It’s tireless work unburdening a city from a history of “police violence, corruption, and neglect” is truly phenomenal and also worthy of your support.

350 Bay Area, Air Quality, Climate Reality Project, EPA

Police oversight, clean energy & clean air in 3 clicks

Signing the petition, making the call or writing the email has never been and will never be pointless

By Nathalie Christian, May 8, 2023

Sometimes signing petitions and writing emails or calls like those suggested below can feel . . . pointless at best, and performative at worst.  But these actions – even as insignificant as they may feel – are neither.

Research, experience and most importantly results prove time and again that policymakers absolutely consider petitions, phone calls, emails and yet more petitions when making decisions. While your pebble may feel small, adding it to a pile and encouraging others in your networks to add their pebbles as well are the first steps in triggering a landslide.

In full disclosure, you may need a few more than three clicks to complete the three proposed actions laid out here today, but you can still make a big difference in the time it takes for your tea or coffee to brew. And the minutes you take today can influence years of decision-making and legislation, and ultimately the lifetimes of many.

[Note: I am ordering these by urgency, not importance. For example, while the EPA is accepting public comment on proposed regulations through July 5, there are important hearings May 9, 10 and 11 that you may want to know about.]

1. Call or Email: Tell your Assembly Members to OPPOSE Assembly Bill 538, which threatens California’s clean energy goals and autonomy

A picture of a power pole.
Major environmental organizations including 350 Bay Area Action, the Sierra Club and Indivisible advise that AB 538 could prevent California from meeting essential clean energy goals. | Uncredited image from 350 Bay Area Action.

Anyone can participate in this important action, but if you’re living Bay Area Assembly Districts 11 (Lori Wilson), 21 (Diane Papan) and 28 (Gail Pellerin), your voice is especially needed. (Find out which district you live in here. If you live in Solano County, Lori Wilson is your assembly representative.)

These three members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee are voting on a grid-related bill that 350 Bay Area Action, the Sierra Club and Indivisible will lump California in with a multistate regional transmission organization, potentially throwing a pretty big wrench in CA’s efforts to meet its clean energy goals. The phone numbers, email addresses and script below provide a quick way you can help oppose this bill.

If you’re a constituent of AD 11, 21 or 28:  Please use the following message for calling or emailing . . .

Suggested message: 

I am your constituent and a member of 350 Bay Area Action, a 20,000-member strong climate justice organization.  After long consideration, we have taken an OPPOSE position on AB 538.

AB 538 creates a new multi-Western state electricity market that would threaten California’s clean energy goals and autonomy without significantly improving access to regional energy markets.  Proposed amendments cannot fix this bill.

    • If the bill is on the Consent Calendar, please request that it be it taken off.
    • Once it’s off Consent, please don’t vote for it. Either vote against it, or don’t vote.

Thank you for your consideration!

Sincerely yours,

[Name / City]

Non-constituents:  Use the above message and simply start by saying you’re a member of 350 Bay Area Action.

2. Petition or public comment: Support the most ambitious vehicle emissions regulations ever proposed.

EPA logo

The EPA has just proposed what the Climate Reality Project is calling “the strongest regulations on vehicle emissions ever.” Despite improved regulations for heavy-duty vehicles, light- and medium-duty vehicles (like passenger cars and delivery trucks) still produce a tremendous amount of toxic tailpipe pollutants. According to Climate Reality, the regulations the EPA proposed could prevent nearly 10 billion tons of CO2 emissions through 2055.

Naturally, the proposed regulations are under attack by the usual suspects. While the EPA is still taking public comments, they need to hear from us. It’s up to average citizens like you and me to balance the histrionics from the conservatives and corporations who desperately want to keep fossil fuels-guzzling cars on the road.

Here are three ways you can support this ambitious new set of regulations:

3. Petition: Boost Vallejo residents demanding independent police oversight

Police officers stand in a loose formation, holding firearms. In the center of the formation is a man in a red shirt with a badge but no firearm.
The Vallejo Police Department continues to resist reform despite historic levels of community distrust. This behavior is ultimately abetted by scant acknowledgment and nearly no action made by Vallejo leaders on behalf of their constituents, who are demanding change, transparency and accountability in this petition. | Uncredited image from petition.
Members of the Solano County ACLU Chapter started this petition to demand independent, external oversight over the very troubled Vallejo Police Department. The case the petition makes is clear, compelling and actionable. Anyone can sign (even if you don’t live in Vallejo), so please take a quick minute to do so and then to share it with your networks. 

From the petition: “Vallejo Police Department (VPD) is the most troubled police department in northern California. This is clear to residents of Vallejo, potential VPD applicants, local and national media, and police professionals in the Bay Area. But this has never been directly acknowledged by our leaders, nor has there been a substantive attempt to make amends to the families who have lost loved ones, to those who have been subjected to police abuse, or to the community. Past attempts at reform have been completely ineffective.”

Read more and sign the petition at change.org . . . 

 

[P. S. I am sorry for shoving three important actions in a single post, possibly reducing the chances that you will complete any of them. The Benicia Independent has a backlog of articles and posts I want to publish and, in the interest of time and space, I am compromising. I encourage you to share these actions with your networks and really highlight the need and the urgency to ensure we have the best chance of being heard on these important topics. –N.C.]

Read more! While we’re talking about Air Quality,  check out these resources:
Police violence, Vallejo CA, Vallejo Police

Vallejo says it ‘inadvertently’ destroyed records in five police shooting investigations

The records were destroyed in early 2021 before their destruction was allowed under city policy.
Vallejo police officers shot and killed Mario Romero in his car on Sept. 2, 2012. The city says it ‘inadvertently’ destroyed records from Romero’s case. Photo: Vallejo Police Department.
Vallejo Sun, by Scott Morris, December 1, 2022

VALLEJO – The city of Vallejo “inadvertently” destroyed audio and video records in five police shooting investigations from the department’s most violent two-year span before the material would have been publicly released as required by law, according to the Vallejo City Attorney’s Office.

The records were destroyed in early 2021 before their destruction was allowed under city policy. Assistant City Attorney Katelyn Knight revealed that they had been destroyed in a series of emails in response to several public records requests for audio and video materials by the Vallejo Sun.

Evidence destruction logs released by the city indicate that the evidence was destroyed on Jan. 11, Jan. 13 and Jan. 20, 2021, and each item indicates that the city attorney’s office approved their disposal. The Sun requested all police shooting records in the possession of Vallejo police in early 2019.

The records could have provided insight to one of the department’s most violent and scrutinized periods, when Vallejo police killed six people in 2012. Some of the records destroyed were from one of the most controversial shootings in the department’s history: the killing of Mario Romero by Officers Sean Kenney and Dustin Joseph on Sept. 2, 2012.

Romero was sitting with his brother-in-law in a parked car when officers approached them and allegedly told them to put their hands up. Kenney and Joseph fired at the car, reloaded and fired again, only stopping after Romero slumped back into the driver’s seat. Family members who witnessed the shooting say they saw Kenney continue to fire while standing on the car’s hood. Romero was shot 30 times and died at a hospital. In 2015, Vallejo paid a $2 million settlement to Romero’s family.

The records destroyed in the Romero investigation include recordings of interviews with Kenney and Joseph, interviews with witnesses, documents from those interviews and video of officers canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses, among other evidence, according to destruction logs released by the city.

According to the city’s retention schedule, it is required to retain such records for five years following closure of the case, well short of the 25 years recommended by the state Department of Justice. In the Romero shooting, the administrative investigation was not reviewed by then-police Chief Andrew Bidou until September 2016. The city destroyed the records on Jan. 11, 2021, less than five years after Bidou’s review, while several requests for the material were pending.

Knight said that the other shootings affected were the fatal shooting of 44-year-old Marshall Tobin by Officers Joseph McCarthy and Robert Kerr on July 4, 2012; the fatal shooting of 42-year-old William Heinze by Officers Dustin Joseph, Ritzie Tolentino and Josh Coleman on March 20, 2013; the fatal shooting of 57-year-old Mohammad Naas by Officer Steve Darden on June 8, 2013; and the injury shooting of Tony Ridgeway by Officer Josh Coleman on Aug, 24, 2013.

Coleman recently testified in Solano County Superior Court that after the Heinze shooting, then-Sgt. Kent Tribble bent the tip of his badge to mark the shooting in a bar across the street from police headquarters while Joseph was present. Coleman testified that no one would be allowed to watch the badge bending ritual unless they had also participated.

Coleman has since left the department to join the Napa County Sheriff’s Office and Joseph is a police officer in Fairfield, where he has been the target of protests following the revelations that officers participated in the badge-bending tradition.

The city has also refused to release an outside investigator’s report on the badge bending ritual, leading the American Civil Liberties Union to sue the department to compel its release last week.

The destroyed records had previously been secret under state law, but became public records after the state legislature passed SB 1421 in 2018, which made investigations into police shootings public records. The city received numerous public records requests for any such records once the law took effect on Jan. 1, 2019, but it has struggled to comply and has been releasing records at a snail’s pace for nearly four years.

Knight said that the city would not destroy any further records until its public records requests are completed and that the city had taken steps to ensure that no further records are destroyed.

But Knight declined to say what steps were taken. “While we are unable to share privileged communications from our office to City Departments, the City has in place an administrative process for records management,” she wrote.