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

Open Vallejo (https://openvallejo.org/tag/shawny-williams/)

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Shawny Williams

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.
Ethics

Senior officials ordered destruction of Vallejo police shooting evidence

By Laurence Du Sault and Geoffrey King | February 5, 2023

The Vallejo city attorney’s office has long resisted public scrutiny of the police department’s frequent shootings. With a new law poised to force the release of shooting records, a lawyer and a detective made a decision no court can reverse.

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.
Surveillance

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 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.

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

Vallejo police chief resigns, former Sacramento chief to consult

By Laurence Du Sault and Geoffrey King | November 4, 2022

The City of Vallejo has signed a $100,000 consulting agreement with former Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn, whose tenure included the fatal shootings of Stephon Clark and Darrell Richards.

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.
Public Safety

Shake-up looms as Vallejo police chief takes time off

By Laurence Du Sault and Geoffrey King | October 27, 2022

The Vallejo Police Department is hiring a new deputy chief, promoting multiple officers to the upper echelons of its command staff, and disbanding two key programs — all while the police chief is expected to be out of the office for weeks, Open Vallejo has confirmed.

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.
Public Safety

Vallejo patrol staffing drops below 1975 levels

By Laurence Du Sault and Geoffrey King | September 21, 2022

Half a century ago, Vallejo had twice as many patrol officers per resident as it does today.

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.

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