Vallejo City Council approves security towers, police bonuses

VALLEJO - The Vallejo City Council voted to approve $1.65 million for surveillance towers and crime suppression measures as well as an additional $2 million for police recruitment and retention during a meeting Tuesday.

The City Council voted unanimously with Mayor Andrea Sorce absent to spend $500,000 on five mobile security towers around the city that would use cameras provided by Live View Technologies. It also approved spending $1.15 million on other public safety measures agreed upon earlier this month, including to allocate up to $300,000 for supporting the police’s new VISION program - which includes using officers and community members to work with households in high-risk neighborhoods.

However, the city’s Surveillance Advisory Board has yet to review the plan for the mobile security towers and is expected to review it at its meeting Thursday.

City Attorney Veronica Nebb said she didn’t want to bypass the Surveillance Advisory Board, but told the council that the vote Tuesday meant securing the funding and expediting the item through the city manager to avoid a two-week delay. 

The vote came several hours after the Vallejo Police Department issued a request for proposals to implement the community violence intervention strategies. More organizations are needed to support the VISION program working in neighborhoods along with police officers, according to the department. 

Vallejo police called the program a new community-based approach rather than being “enforcement-centric” in addressing gun violence. 

“Instead, it reflects a citywide commitment to influence the behavior of individuals who are at the highest risk of committing or becoming victims of gun violence,” the police statement said. “The program connects these individuals to a coordinated network of community services and support. The goal is to improve their overall quality of life and provide a strong deterrent to future violence.”

The council also voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a $2 million incentive program for recruitment and retention of police officers, which was discussed earlier this month. The item drew frustration from several councilmembers and residents since it rewards all qualifying police officers with bonuses, regardless of their record. 

Resident Carol Heap said she was concerned about how many officers may receive bonuses who have complaints on their record. She said she wants to know how many complaints the department receives regularly about its officers, and how many internal investigations are pending and have been completed within the last month. 

“Then if you find out that some of the complaints were sustained, then you could distinguish good officers from bad officers,” Heap said. 

Resident Daniel Boone said the city’s incentive plan ignores the families of people who were abused, killed or maimed by Vallejo police officers.

“If you reward that behavior by putting up this money, you are only reinforcing and encouraging that behavior,” Boone said. “This is your chance to say no, we’ve heard you, family members who have had your lives turned upside down by violence by the Vallejo Police Department.”

Police Chief Jason Ta said the incentive program is designed to help accelerate hiring while keeping current officers. He said the city currently gains 7 to 10 new officers per year, and he wants to get to a fully staffed department within three years. 

To the fact that even officers with complaints on file will benefit from these incentives, Ta said “They are here because they are allowed to still continue in their capacity and work as police officers. Those are the same people that we are retaining bonuses for.”

Councilmember Charles Palmares said there isn’t a solution available to focus the bonuses  on new officers and not those who may have allegations on their record, given the bargaining agreement in place with the Vallejo Police Officers Association. 

Councilmember Diosdado Matulac said that the union’s executive board in the past has not been open to meeting and conferring on the matter, and this agreement represents a new chapter for its work with the city. He said the bonuses package comes with the council being committed to implementing long-promised reforms.

Councilmember Tonia Lediju noted that 47.5% of officers have been on staff for five or fewer years. But she expressed misgivings about how reforms might actually take place and be tracked, saying that the police department still has not laid out clear new policies which will help improve officers’ accountability.

“The tone begins at the top,” Lediju said. “It is also about, how are we supporting families? We have a lot of work to do as a city as we continue to move forward. It’s going to take all of us to do that work.”

The city has been working on how to bolster police staffing since declaring a state of emergency in 2023. As part of those efforts, the city has also sought a contract with the Solano County Sheriff’s Office to provide policing services for half of the city. Earlier on Tuesday, the Solano County Board of Supervisors delayed a vote on finalizing that contract until next month.

While Sheriff Tom Ferrara said that issues with CalPers and the acquisition of new police cars had been resolved, he is still in negotiations with the Solano County Deputy Sheriffs Association.

“I believe we can probably get things ironed out with the DSA, where we could get a firm yes or no, by August 5,” Ferrara said. “I don't want everybody to panic that if we kick it to August 5 for that final agreement, I'm confident we would still be able to start patrol services in January of 2026, which is what we've been saying from day one.”

Sebastien K. Bridonneau contributed to this report.