Open Vallejo (https://openvallejo.org/tag/vallejo-police-department/)
The Vallejo Police Department has prepared an update on California Department of Justice reforms it plans to present at a special City Council meeting tonight. But one notable stakeholder was left out of the department’s assessment — the DOJ.
Bonta gave the clearest indication to date that his office intends to continue — and potentially deepen — its review of Vallejo police.
Vallejo has had its share of tough characters over the years, author Brendan Riley observes in this column written especially for Open Vallejo. But few can rival the exploits of “boy bandit” Frank Melville, one of Vallejo’s original gangsters.
The California Department of Justice said it cannot say how many cases it chose not to investigate during the past 18 months under a new state law, which aimed to ensure state oversight of police shootings.
Open Vallejo has cautioned Vallejo’s new outside counsel to ensure officials refrain from destroying evidence, as a Solano County judge sets a special hearing in the newsroom’s public records lawsuit against the city.
The Vallejo city attorney’s office has recused itself from an investigation into the destruction of evidence in multiple police shootings, according to a statement from the city manager’s office — but concerns about the process remain.
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 disturbing history of domestic violence, verbal clashes with colleagues and constituents, and vocal support for Vallejo police defined the former council member’s turbulent tenure.
The Vallejo City Attorney’s Office hopes to identify the authors behind two pseudonymous social media accounts, confidential records obtained by Open Vallejo show.
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.