Open Vallejo
@OpenVallejo
Open Vallejo is an award-winning independent newsroom serving the public interest.
For a generation, a secretive clique within @VallejoPD has commemorated fatal shootings with beers, backyard barbecues, and by bending the points of their badges each time they kill in the line of duty, a monthslong investigation by Open Vallejo has found. openvallejo.org/2020/07/28/val…
A Kaiser employee discovered a hidden camera in an exam glove box in a bathroom used by both staff and patients. Public records report "a bunch of boxes with pinholes" were were later discovered in other bathrooms. openvallejo.org/2025/07/03/hid…
A Kaiser employee found the camera in a restroom used by both patients and staff on June 23. A police dispatch record noted that “a bunch of boxes with pinholes” were discovered in other restrooms. openvallejo.org/2025/07/03/hid…
A lengthy SWAT standoff disrupted a Vallejo neighborhood for most of the day Wednesday, after a report of a man brandishing a firearm prompted a large police response. openvallejo.org/2025/07/23/val…
Vallejo police arrested a man Wednesday in connection with the shooting death of a Vallejo woman earlier this month. openvallejo.org/2025/07/18/val…
San Francisco Burglary Unit investigators searched the property and nearby vehicles, reviewing and removing documents, a Jeep, and other evidence. Open Vallejo also observed special agents from the FBI and the Diplomatic Security Service enter the home. openvallejo.org/2025/07/17/san…
The shootings reportedly included a freeway carjacking and a shootout between two vehicles, during which a California Highway Patrol helicopter made an emergency landing to airlift a victim to a local hospital. openvallejo.org/2025/07/16/fiv…
Police said patrol officers spotted the suspect about two blocks away from the June shooting on July 7. openvallejo.org/2025/07/14/val…
In 2024, four people were killed as people fled Vallejo police, including a 76-year-old man who was crushed between two parked cars in October. Last July, two people died in police pursuits within three days of each other. openvallejo.org/2025/07/09/sus…
Vallejo police are investigating the city’s eighth homicide of the year, after a 45-year-old woman was shot early Saturday morning. openvallejo.org/2025/07/09/wom…
Open Vallejo revealed the tradition in 2020, exposing how a clique of officers in the department would bend down the tabs of their star-shaped badges each time they killed a civilian. openvallejo.org/2025/07/01/acl…
The new badges represent a larger effort by Vallejo to rebrand its embattled department, a process that may involve the costly replacement or modification of officers’ uniforms, patches, patrol vehicles, letterhead, and the signs on police headquarters. openvallejo.org/2024/01/26/val…
A California appellate court ordered the release of a third-party investigation into Vallejo’s “Badge of Honor” scandal Friday, in response to a lawsuit brought by @ACLU_NorCal with amicus support from Open Vallejo. openvallejo.org/2025/07/01/acl…
Thirteen years ago today, Vallejo police shot 17-year-old Jared Huey 16 times, killing him. The city of Vallejo used juvenile privacy laws to block release of the records. An Open Vallejo investigation revealed details that officials sought to keep hidden. openvallejo.org/2023/06/28/twi…
A lawyer for Teresa Youngblut said he anticipates the federal government will file death-eligible charges in “short order.” openvallejo.org/2025/06/24/all…
The neighborhood has been rocked by recent shootings, including two near Kings Market & Liquor on May 3 and June 11, which left at least two people injured. In January, a 4-year-old was critically injured by gunfire approximately three blocks away. openvallejo.org/2025/06/24/65-…
Federal prosecutors allege that LaSota possessed a .50-caliber sniper rifle, a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition at the time of her arrest, according to the indictment. openvallejo.org/2025/06/20/fed…
Last week, a federal judge ruled to halt the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles. An appeals court quickly stayed the ruling, temporarily allowing the troops to remain under federal control. At noon, the court will hear the case on the merits. openvallejo.org/2025/06/17/can…