Facts

On June 5, 2020, following several high-profile office-involved shootings, the People of the State of California and the City of Vallejo (City) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Vallejo Police Department (VPD) to institute a comprehensive modernized policing plan that included implementing 45 reform recommendation made by VPD's expert consultants, as well as additional review from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to include any additional recommendations needed to modernize VPD's policies, assist with implementation of the recommendations, and independently evaluate VPD's compliance. The DOJ also reviewed and considered publicly available data sources concerning officer-involved shootings, use of force, bias, and public complaints, as well as lawsuits against the VPD in crafting the MOU. The MOU expired on June 5, 2023. VPD achieved substantial compliance of 20 out of the 45 agreed-upon recommendations as of October 16, 2023. On October 16, 2023, the People of the State of California, ex rel. Rob Bonta, Attorney General of the State of California filed a complaint against the City and the VPD, seeking declaratory and equitable relief to address alleged incidents of conduct by law enforcement offices that deprived individuals of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the state or federal Constitution or state or federal law. The Attorney General acknowledged that during the course of the MOU, both the City and VPD have taken action to improve their law enforcement services and accountability, including updating important policies and practices, implementing new use of force reporting, review, and data collection, and creating the model and passing an ordinance authorizing independent police oversight.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff alleged that defendants violated the People's constitutional and statutory rights through the pattern and practices of employing excessive and unreasonable force, engaging in biased policing, using enforcement strategies disproportionately impacting people of color, and performing unconstitutional stops, searches, and seizures. Further, plaintiff contended that these violations were based in part on defendants' systemic deficiencies in policies, training, supervision, and accountability structures, including a failure to employ meaningful management oversight or supervision over officers. Finally, plaintiff argued that these deficiencies existed for many years prior to the lawsuit and were unlikely to be remedied by defendants without judicial mandate and oversight.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants denied all contentions.

Result

The parties have agreed on a comprehensive five-year plan to address areas that need improvement and modernization to bring VPD into alignment with contemporary best practices and ensure constitutional policing. In particular, the VPD promised to implement the remaining 25 recommendations that have not been implemented from the MOU. The VPD also promised to implement additional recommendations, including holding officers and supervisors accountable for unreasonable force, strengthening partnerships within the community, developing a policy to define the limits for the use of pretextual stops, conducting ongoing audits, prohibiting officers from conducting consent searches during consensual encounters, committing to bias-free services, among others recommendations.