Laurence Du Sault, author at Open Vallejo

A portrait of Darryl Mefferd

The secret death of Darryl Dean Mefferd

by Laurence Du Sault June 10, 2024January 27, 2025

A five-year-old girl sits atop her father's shoulders holding a sign that reads, "I have unlimited value. So did Jahhnavi." They are partly in shadow and light at a protest.

Seattle police ended body camera analysis after footage caught officer mocking woman’s death

by Laurence Du Sault September 21, 2023October 30, 2023

Three Vallejo police officers stand at a kitchen counter waiting to take orders to diners during a "tip-a-cop" charity event benefitting the Special Olympics of Northern California.

Ryan McMahon, whose bent badge revealed post-killing ritual, leaves Broadmoor

by Laurence Du Sault September 5, 2023October 27, 2023

A Black woman in her early 40s wearing a white shirt poses for a portrait on her porch at sunset. An uncannily-accurate tattoo of her twin brother Charles, who was killed by Vallejo police in 2007, when they were 26, adorns her right arm.

Vallejo police concealed violent deaths for years, Open Vallejo lawsuit reveals

by Laurence Du Sault August 24, 2023January 28, 2025

A bespectacled police chief is seen framed by officers, who are out of focus.

Vallejo fails to disclose seized footage in June police shooting

by Laurence Du Sault and Geoffrey King July 13, 2023October 27, 2023

California State Sen. Nancy Skinner speaks at a podium inside California's Capitol while holding a sheaf of paper and wearing glasses.

Open Government

State senator says juvenile records laws shouldn’t shield police

by Laurence Du Sault July 11, 2023October 30, 2024

Two senior police officers leave a conference room holding various items.

Under union pressure, Vallejo police chief ends body camera analysis

by Laurence Du Sault July 9, 2023July 10, 2025

Jared Huey, a skinny teenage boy wearing a baseball cap and a longsleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up barbecues in a backyard on a sunny day. An open Dr. Pepper soda can be seen within arm's reach. The photograph appears to have been taken with a broken camera that let light leak in, giving the image a nostalgic, multi-color effect.

‘Twisted to conceal:’ How laws meant to protect children help police evade scrutiny

by Laurence Du Sault June 28, 2023January 29, 2025

A Vallejo police officer wearing a helmet and carrying a rifle walks past police SUVs as the sun sets in Vallejo, California. Crime scene tape can be seen in the foreground.

California’s attorney general wants court oversight of Vallejo police. Here is what that means.

by Laurence Du Sault June 20, 2023February 10, 2024

Vallejo Police Chief Jason Ta leaves a Vallejo City Council meeting, bag of documents in hand. The images catches him mid-stride. He is an Asian American man in his 50s in a dark blue police chief's uniform. The first several rows of seats are nearly empty of audience members.

Vallejo police to update city on DOJ reforms

by Geoffrey King and Laurence Du Sault May 16, 2023October 27, 2023