VALLEJO - During its August 25, 2020 meeting, the Vallejo City Council adjusted the budget to recognize a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice funding eight new officer positions within the Vallejo Police Department. The U.S. Department of Justice COPS Hiring Program awarded Vallejo with the grant, which totals $5,114,754 over a three-year period.
In recognition of the grant funding, the Vallejo City Council amended the Fiscal Year 2020-21 General Fund budget for the Police Department to recognize $1,590,204 from the grant and appropriate expenditures of that amount. The $1,590,204 is intended to cover the eight new police officers’ salary and benefit costs for this fiscal year.
The eight new sworn positions will increase the number of authorized sworn positions in the Police Department from 122 to 130. With additional officers in place, VPD plans to increase its number of detectives, expand the Crime Reduction Team, better address quality of life concerns, and reduce gun violence through the department’s new Operation P.E.A.C.E. Project.
“The COPS grant is a win-win for the City of Vallejo, in that we’re able to equip the Police Department with the additional staffing they need while incurring minimal costs locally,” said Mayor Bob Sampayan. “New, additional officers can help address violent crime in our community and can also help advance improvement efforts within the Department.”
The Vallejo Police Department is working toward implementing recommendations from the OIR Group’s assessment report, which the City published in June 2020. The increase in sworn staffing is necessary if the City chooses to implement the following two recommendations from the report:
Recommendation #7: As additional resources become available, VPD should develop and deploy crime prevention strategies involving problem solving and community engagement.
Recommendation #8: As additional resources become available, VPD should consider assigning officers to neighborhoods and beats and empower them to devise crime prevention strategies to keep their assigned neighborhoods safe.
“Adding eight new officers will not only help us provide better day-to-day service for our community, it is going to help us implement my vision for exceptional service and community-based policing,” said Chief of Police Shawny Williams. “I am focused on expanding our crime prevention, intervention and community engagement efforts to ensure that we are policing with purpose and transforming lives in this process. These new officer positions are a reflection of that effort.”
The COPS Hiring Program is run by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing by the nation's state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources. The program is designed to reduce crime and advance public safety through community policing by providing direct support to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide.
The next step in hiring the eight new VPD officers will be to amend the Department’s authorized positions. A resolution amending VPD positions and salaries for Fiscal Year 2020-21 will be considered at the next City Council meeting. See the City Agendas & Videos webpage for additional meeting information.
For all media inquiries, please contact Public Information Officer, Brittany K. Jackson by email at [email protected] or by phone at (707) 651-7147.
