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Open Vallejo - Knowledge is power. Power to the people.

Open Vallejo (https://openvallejo.org/category/public-safety/)

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Public Safety

  • Related Topics:
  • Surveillance
  • News
  • Vallejo Police Department
  • Shawny Williams
  • City of Vallejo
A stocking hanging outside the Vallejo City Attorney’s office on Dec. 21, 2022 reads, “We’ve been GOOD, we PROMISE!!” In September, Deputy City Attorney Katelyn Knight hired a firm to uncover the identities of authors behind two social media accounts, an Open Vallejo investigation has found.

Vallejo spends thousands to expose online commenters

By Geoffrey King | December 23, 2022

The Vallejo City Attorney’s Office hopes to identify the authors behind two pseudonymous social media accounts, confidential records obtained by Open Vallejo show.

Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams is seen at his swearing-in ceremony on Nov. 12, 2019, at Vallejo City Hall.

Vallejo police chief resigns, former Sacramento chief to consult

Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams speaks with Annice Evans, whose son Angel Ramos was killed by a Vallejo police officer on January 23, 2017, at a Vallejo City Council meeting on March 8, 2022. Ramos did not have a weapon.

Shake-up looms as Vallejo police chief takes time off

Five Vallejo police officers pose indoors with another man in a black and white group photograph taken in the 1970s or early 1980s. Front row, left to right: John Lynch, Peter Zander, Ronald Guerra. Back row: unknown, Herbert Shrum, Burky Worel, Louis Baldino.

Vallejo patrol staffing drops below 1975 levels

Then-San Jose Police Department Capt. Jason Ta, left, poses in the Vallejo City Council chambers for a photograph with Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams minutes after Williams was sworn in as Vallejo's police chief on Nov. 12, 2019. In 2021, Williams recruited Ta to serve as his deputy chief of police.

Deputy police chief arrived impaired to Vallejo homicide, memo alleges

Vallejo Police Lt. Michael Nichelini takes a selfie with colleagues in front of his family’s winery in St. Helena, Calif. during a “training ride” on Nov. 14, 2019.
Public Safety

Termination overturned for Vallejo police lieutenant who threatened journalist

By Geoffrey King | December 1, 2022

If Nichelini is reinstated, “it should raise concern from the streets of Vallejo to the attorney general’s office about how seriously the police department is taking reform,” Otis R. Taylor, Jr., the reporter who received the menacing email, told Open Vallejo.

Featured
Members of Willie McCoy's family hug in front of Vallejo City Hall during a protest on Feb. 28, 2019, three weeks after Vallejo police killed the 20-year-old.

Vallejo police reforms stall despite scrutiny over killings

By Laurence Du Sault | November 8, 2022

In 2020, the California DOJ endorsed 45 reforms for Vallejo police. The department has implemented just two of them.

Public Safety
A shirtless man holding a handsaw blade approaches two deputies, one of whom is pointing a handgun, outdoors during daytime, from the perspective of the body camera of a third deputy, who is pointing a Taser at the man.

Solano sheriff releases footage of Juneteenth shooting in Vallejo

By Geoffrey King | September 3, 2022

In response to a California Public Records Act request filed by Open Vallejo, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office has disclosed body camera and vehicle camera footage from the fatal shooting of 28-year-old man on June 19.

A flashlight leaves a streak of light through a crime scene at night.
Public Safety

Vallejo tolerated officers’ mistakes. Then they killed again.

By Laurence Du Sault | July 7, 2022

The Vallejo Police Department’s flawed handling of fatal police shootings allowed six officers to use deadly force again before their first cases were decided. Experts say the department’s system “isn’t even basement standard practice” and needs oversight.

An overhead view taken from a drone shows a Black man being placed against a police SUV as he is arrested during daytime.
Privacy

Vallejo police to weaken drone policy amid potential violations

By Brian Howey | April 21, 2022

Vallejo Police Department policy requires written authorization before officers launch drones. When an Open Vallejo investigation found no evidence that the rule was being followed, the department decided to change it.

A 3D rendering of a DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone hovering over a 3D-rendered scene that includes a man lying dead in front of an undercover police truck.
Public Safety

Footage of Sean Monterrosa’s killing by police was ‘overwritten.’ Here is what we know about that night.

By Laurence Du Sault and Geoffrey King | December 9, 2021

As Vallejo moves to fire the detective who killed Monterrosa, newly-released records raise questions over officials’ handling of investigation.

Vallejo police Det. Jarrett Tonn
Public Safety

Detective on leave over Sean Monterrosa shooting

By Laurence Du Sault and Geoffrey King | July 11, 2021

An outside investigation found that Vallejo police Det. Jarrett Tonn violated department use of force policies in the 2020 killing, sources told Open Vallejo.

Protest signs left at the site of Sean Monterrosa's killing by Vallejo police can be seen on June 5, 2020 in Vallejo, Calif. Monterrosa was killed three days earlier by an officer who had three prior shootings since joining the Vallejo Police Department in 2014.
Partnerships

Help us investigate the Vallejo Police Department

By Laurence Du Sault | May 14, 2021

Reporters have documented 33 killings by police since 2000 in Vallejo. We need your help to learn more about Vallejo police violence and potential misconduct.

Public Safety
FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan speaks to reporters at a press conference in Fairfield, Calif. in 2018. Solano County Sheriff Tom Ferrara, second from right, has recently sought to downplay concerns about possible far-right extremism in his agency following an investigation by Open Vallejo.

FBI rebuffs sheriff’s claim it cleared deputies of extremist ties

By Scott Morris | April 26, 2021

Current and former FBI officials cast doubt on Solano County Sheriff Tom Ferrara’s claim that federal agents cleared his employees of membership in a far-right militia.

Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams is sworn into office under the gaze of a city surveillance camera on Nov. 12, 2019. A BuzzFeed News investigation found that Vallejo was one of more than 1,800 public entities to use a facial recognition technology so powerful, it is the subject of numerous lawsuits and several government probes. A Vallejo police spokesperson said the department’s command staff were unaware of its use prior to being contacted for comment by Open Vallejo.
Surveillance

Vallejo police secretly tested ‘dystopian’ facial recognition tool

By Brian Howey | April 13, 2021

Vallejo police tested a facial recognition system that is the subject of numerous lawsuits and government investigations, according to search data obtained by BuzzFeed News.

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