Introduction
I
n the summer of 2019, Vallejo officials were responding to a time of transition for the City’s Police Department (“VPD,” or “the Department”). The chief was newly retired, and the search for a new leader was underway against a backdrop of recent incidents – including fatal officer-involved shootings – that had prompted public concern and even demonstrations. It seemed as if a number of individual encounters were fitting all too well into larger, troubling narratives about American law enforcement: deadly force under disputed circumstances that affected minority subjects to a disproportionate extent, and strained relationships with residents that arose from and contributed to that reality while raising issues of trust and public confidence. To be sure, there were other perspectives besides those of the Department’s most engaged detractors. A significant number of residents and groups within the City continued to be supportive of the police – both quietly and more overtly. And several new outreach initiatives, started under the now retired Chief, showed a commitment to positive connections outside of traditional enforcement contexts. Nonetheless, leadership within Vallejo’s city government decided that the time was right to take a step back and to assess the Department’s strengths, challenges, and opportunities in a new way. We have been advised that a key impetus for the Council’s decision to commission this report was the City’s risk management crisis, which brought the prospect of radically higher insurance premiums. The Council also was concerned about the perception that Vallejo had not developed a sufficient plan to address the negative claim trends and other community voiced concerns. As a result, the City engaged an outside consultant with the goal of refashioning an overarching professional risk management program. In addition to assisting with the insurance issue, the firm also recommended that the City take a deeper dive into the departments that were the source of most claims – Police, Fire, and Public Works – and the Council and City Manager accordingly sought further review of their operating practices.
