If Vallejo residents want to hold police officers accountable for past brutality, leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union say the solution isn't going to come from the state.
But it might come from political action.
Avi Frey, deputy director of the ACLU of Northern California's criminal justice program, announced at a Wednesday town hall meeting that he has met with officials leading the California Department of Justice's efforts to reform the Vallejo Police Department — but the conversation didn't go the way he'd hoped.
"They listened to what we had to say, and what they said at the end was, it is not really their business to do anything that's backward looking — that they are going to be looking prospectively only," Frey said.
In other words, the state DOJ will keep trying to influence how the city's police department operates going forward. But past incidents — including the 18 fatal police shootings that happened in the city between 2010 and 2020 — are outside the scope of the state's efforts in Vallejo.
On the other hand, Frey reiterated that the ACLU is "looking for a project" in Vallejo — a way that the organization can use its resources and political clout to pressure the city into improving its law enforcement. Speakers outlined several ways the group might do that, including seeking investigations into previous police shootings and fighting to shift more power to civilian-led boards like the Police Oversight and Accountability Commission.
"We're running through different ways that maybe we can help impact change," Frey said.
'Imminent' legal action
The state Justice Department has been working with Vallejo police since 2020 to implement a list of 45 recommendations to improve the city's approach to policing. As of May, however, the VPD had enacted only eight of those proposed reforms.
The state agency announced in a June statement to this newspaper that it is seeking "a new phase of oversight" in Vallejo.
That oversight will come in the form of a "consent decree" — a legally binding document requiring the police department to obey state demands. If the city fails to follow the terms of the yet-to-be-finalized order, the court can impose legal consequences and force the city into compliance.
The state has publicly released few details about what this decree will look like. It's still unknown what conditions the Justice Department will impose or what the new reform timelines will look like.
The ACLU previously announced that it was considering ways to influence the terms of the coming legal agreement to ensure as much accountability and transparency as possible. But, Frey said, it appears that the state agency is getting close to finalizing the consent decree's terms — and the ACLU's power to influence those terms is extremely limited.
"I think that there may be something imminent. I'm not sure how imminent, but that was my big takeaway," Frey said. He suggested the decree might be complete within a matter of weeks or a couple months.
Any reforms beyond what the consent decree dictates will likely need to come from Vallejo City Hall.
What the ACLU can do
That, speakers said Wednesday, is where the ACLU comes in.
Marshal Arnwine, an advocate for the ACLU of Northern California's criminal justice program, said his organization has compiled a list of all Vallejo police officers who have recently killed people while on duty.
A new state agency authorized under Senate Bill 2, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, has the power to permanently strip officers of their badges for misconduct. Law enforcement agencies must tell the state about all incidents of alleged misconduct that took place between Jan. 1, 2020 and Jan. 1, 2023.
But the state commission isn't limited to reviewing only recent incidents. In cases of misconduct involving police shootings, dishonesty or sexual assault, the state can decertify officers regardless of when the incidents occurred.
The Peace Officer Standards and Training commission has not decertified or suspended any Vallejo officers, according to the agency's website. But, Arnwine said, it potentially could.
He suggested that the ACLU could advocate for the Vallejo Police Department or Vallejo City Council to send the state commission records of past investigations into fatal police shootings. The ACLU itself could also potentially place pressure on the state to review past Vallejo incidents.
"There's no language in the SB 2 law that guides POST's discretion in this respect, on when they may initiate this decertification process," Arnwine told town hall attendees. "But that's why it's important to have advocates organizing community members like you all here."
ACLU Fellow Briana Cravanas also outlined another way the organization could seek greater police accountability in Vallejo: Strengthening city boards like the Police Oversight and Accountability Commission.
This commission, which does not yet have any members, will review investigations into serious police incidents, as well as police department policies and complaints from the public. But unless something changes, it will only be able to make recommendations — not legally binding decisions.
The ACLU could possibly pursue ways to strengthen the commission's authority.
"A potential change," Cravanas said, "is a shift in authority to discipline law enforcement, and taking that power from the city manager and giving it to the civilian review boards."
What Vallejoans think
Wednesday's meeting was substantially more subdued than the last ACLU town hall in Vallejo, which saw over 100 people pack a room at Solano Community College to demand consequences for the Vallejo Police Department's long history of killing civilians.
A crowd of about 30 people listened to the ACLU's presentation and asked several clarifying questions. In response to a suggestion that the ACLU should turn to existing legal channels to create change, Kris Kelley, co-chair of the group's Solano County chapter, said that might work in other places — but "those rules just don't apply here."
"Unfortunately, (in) our city, they work by different rules than anywhere else. And for all the steps that we've taken to try to move forward, there have been blocks and circumventing," she said.
People who wish to share information with the ACLU about their experiences with policing and city dynamics in Vallejo can go to the following link: forms.office.com/r/Gy72W5VaDJ
Another ACLU town hall will take place in Vallejo soon. Organizers did not specify a date.
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