Open Vallejo Informed California Foundation

The City of Vallejo has purchased a cell site simulator, a powerful surveillance technology, without complying with a state law that requires public input. The Vallejo Police Department has already used the device two dozen times — up to 10 of them without first getting a warrant, according to an activist who is now suing the city.

Revelations about Councilmember Hakeem Brown’s history of domestic violence have wracked Vallejo, resulting in rescinded endorsements of his mayoral campaign and an effort to have him recalled from city council.

Vallejo police are in a state of emergency. Crime is up and so are civil rights settlements, including a $5.7 million settlement to the family of Ronell Foster, who say they won’t stop fighting until Officer Ryan McMahon is convicted for his death.  Last month, he became the first Vallejo cop to lose his job over a shooting — but only because he endangered another cop. 

The Vallejo Police Department has a history of violating residents’ Fourth Amendment rights, a lesson Vallejo’s children learn from a young age.

Ashley and Michelle Monterrosa joined the family-led movement to end Vallejo police violence when Detective Jarrett Tonn killed their brother on June 2, 2020. Raised in an activist family in San Francisco, they say they want their brother to be the last person killed by police in Vallejo, a city that continues to pay out millions to settle civil rights lawsuits, almost two dozen of which are currently pending in federal court.

Vallejo’s police department is looking to hire more officers as their salaries continue to rise. Meanwhile, the city council may be violating public meeting laws, and a proposal for a Black Lives Matter mural is met with skepticism.