Vallejo to explore new spending on security towers and violence reduction programs

VALLEJO – Vallejo city staff are looking for new ways to infuse the Vallejo Police Department’s gun violence reduction efforts with more money as the city faces pressure to do more in neighborhoods afflicted by violence, despite a budget crunch. 

Vallejo Police Chief Jason Ta presented a report on community violence and potential mitigation strategies in a special Vallejo City Council meeting Tuesday. The council voted unanimously to direct staff to research how it could purchase around five mobile security towers for up to $500,000. The portable, elevated security systems are equipped with cameras and sensors and often used at big box stores like Walmart to catch car break-ins and theft. 

The council also directed staff to find out how much it would cost to re-establish the Safe Start to School Programs at four public schools during the upcoming school year. Staff will also research if the city has $50,000 for safe block party support and up to $300,000 for a subsidy scholarship program working with Greater Vallejo Recreation District to subsidize children participating in year-round programs. 

Lediju also motioned to recommend that the city look for up to $300,000 to support VISION, a violence intervention and support program in local neighborhoods which began in February as a response to a violent shooting which injured a child. VISION involves a team of officers who identify community problems, from drug crime to quality of life issues, to connect residents with local services and carry out “crime suppression techniques” the department has not yet defined. 

Lediju’s motion passed 6-1 with Councilmember Alexander Matias abstaining. Matias disagreed with Lediju and Mayor Andrea Sorce’s idea to explore using Measure P sales tax revenue for community crime prevention.

Lediju said the security towers must be top priority, because “We are in a state of emergency.” 

“We are having a lot of violence happening in these shopping centers,” she said.

Staff will bring all requests back to a meeting July 8, where the council will have to authorize spending from the budget and how to use it based on the research. 

Ta said he wanted to walk away from the meeting with a short-term strategy to manage crime.

“Community safety is a community responsibility,” he said. “The bigger ask of this VISION initiative is a commitment by the council to spearhead this. It doesn’t come with funding, and that’s a big problem. So we have to use people in our community.”

Sorce said she, Ta and City Manager Andrew Murray have been in touch with the Center for Policing Equity and Mayor Barbara Lee in Oakland to explore what community partnerships with police can look like. She said she’s looking to convene a special meeting to discuss purchasing security towers by Aug. 6.

“Let’s not get discouraged, let’s not get defeated,” Sorce said. 

“The weird thing is, even though we’re in a budget crunch, we have money,” she said, pointing to Measure P and settlement funds from opioid manufacturers as opportunities to explore to support different public safety strategies.  

As of May, Vallejo had seen a decline in murders so far this year but a rise in robberies, burglaries and assault. Deputy Chief Robert Knight said the department wants to do more to prevent crime.

“We are strictly in a reactive place right now,” Knight said. “We want to trend in the direction of being proactive. We want to try to deter crime or prevent crime.”

Knight said with only one crime analyst on staff, the city’s investigation and solve rates for non-fatal shootings are lacking. 

He said that existing partnerships are helping, such as one with the California Highway Patrol to proactively deter sideshows using patrols in suspected neighborhoods. He also commended community partners like IHART, an alternative response for people facing mental health crises,  for help working with impacted neighborhoods and going door-to-door to inform residents about violent incidents. VISION is also vital, despite not yet having dedicated funding, he added.

“We cannot police our way out of this problem, we cannot arrest our way out of this problem,” Knight said. “Sometimes the people that are closest to the problem are also closest to the solution.”

However, it’s unclear if other support options to bolster Vallejo’s depleted Police Department will come through. A vote to approve a proposed $11.2 million contract for sheriff’s deputies to patrol Vallejo was delayed by the Solano County Board of Supervisors last week amid concerns that the sheriff’s office would not be able to staff up or outfit its equipment in time for the Jan. 1 start date. The contract, approved by the City Council on June 17, would deploy 17 full-time sheriff’s office employees to patrol half the city daily from noon to midnight.

Knight, who a veteran recruiter said interfered with his efforts to build up the department three years ago, said that the department is trying to recruit new officers but continuing to struggle.

“We are trying our absolute hardest to build back our police cadet program,” he said. “We have a high failure rate because we often don’t know anything about these people.” 

Fresh Air Vallejo President Liat Mietzenheimer said that the lack of trust in the police department after years of allegations of internal corruption and troubling conduct prevents improving partnerships with the community. 

“I haven’t heard anything about reform,” she said. “That should be part of the report that comes out. That’s going to make the community and want to talk to you about what’s going on in the neighborhood. The longer it takes, the more people start feeling like their voices weren’t heard and nothing was done.”

Ta responded that the department has made strides in implementing a reform plan by the state Department of Justice. He said he agreed with Mietzenheimer’s comments, although he added “That wasn’t the focus of this discussion.”

Solano County Supervisor Cassandra James said that the improvement in public safety numbers is only holding in some areas, calling out two shootings in North Vallejo where shell casings were left until Lediju called for their removal. She accused Vallejo police officers of being “unapproachable” for concerned community members during those incidents, and said the crime is tied to factors like proximity to Interstate 80 and regional “disparities.”

“We are immune now to calling 911 because we know shootings are not a priority one call,” James said. “We only call after someone has been hit.”

Matias noted how many shootings take place near schools, and asked for the department’s safe passage program to patrol neighborhoods around schools starting in August. He said he emailed city staff about security towers as a deterrent in January, and expressed frustration that the matter is being discussed six months later. 

“How are we really in a public staffing emergency when it’s taking us this long to talk about this thing?” he asked. “The residents were very clear that they wanted us to prioritize this. We shouldn't be having reactionary meetings.”