Editor's Pick Archives - Open Vallejo

A low‐lit scene outside a gray building bearing the address “333 LEMON.” Yellow crime‐scene tape stretches diagonally across the frame, with a police officer or investigator bent over near the building’s foundation. A grassy lawn slopes up from a wooden retaining wall in the foreground.

Suspects in killings of Vallejo witness, Vermont border patrol agent connected by marriage license, extreme ideology

by Anna Bauman and Matthew Brown January 27, 2025January 29, 2025

A Vallejo police officer gestures while holding a gun in one hand, his uniform and vehicle illuminated by the warm light of late afternoon. The background shows a sign for Kyles Temple A.M.E. Zion Church.

As Vallejo police force shrinks, 911 response times soar

by Anna Bauman September 23, 2024January 28, 2025

A portrait of Darryl Mefferd

The secret death of Darryl Dean Mefferd

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

Two SWAT officers in tactical gear during a daylight operation in a suburban setting. One officer is standing while carrying a rifle, wearing a helmet and protective glasses. The other officer is standing beside a fence, pointing a handgun up toward a second-story window. The background shows dry vegetation.

SWAT officer among Vallejo police with DUI convictions

by Anna Bauman May 1, 2024January 28, 2025

A police investigator wearing a dark suit with salt and pepper hair stands outside against a glass wall during daytime.

‘A whitewash and a coverup’: an interview with Vallejo police whistleblower John Whitney

by Geoffrey King December 6, 2023January 29, 2025

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

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, 2023January 29, 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 young woman wearing a red top, red shoes and white and red pants holds a bright pink handwritten sign that reads, "Release the tapes!! Killer Cop" She stands in front of a large, off-white sedan from the 1980s or early 1990s. The background is dark and it appears to have been raining.

Senior officials ordered destruction of Vallejo police shooting evidence

by Laurence Du Sault and Geoffrey King February 5, 2023January 27, 2025

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

by Laurence Du Sault July 20, 2022January 28, 2025