By Vanguard Staff
VALLEJO, Calif. — The ACLU Foundation of Northern California is pressing the City of Vallejo to bypass a newly approved preliminary review and move directly to a full, independent investigation into the City Attorney’s Office over its handling of alleged police misconduct within the Vallejo Police Department, citing what it describes as extensive, credible allegations that undermine public trust.
In a supplemental letter dated Dec. 22, the ACLU followed up on its July 24, 2025 request for an independent investigation focused on the City Attorney’s handling of misconduct allegations involving Vallejo police officers. The letter was addressed to Mayor Andrea Sorce and all members of the City Council.
The ACLU acknowledged that on Dec. 9 the City Council voted to approve a contract with the Shaw Law Group PC to conduct a preliminary inquiry into whether a formal investigation is warranted. The firm proposed a roughly 30-day timeline to produce written findings and a recommendation to the council.
“While we believe this preliminary step is unnecessary and the Council should contract for a complete investigation immediately, we nonetheless commend the City for taking seriously the numerous, credible, and alarming allegations against the City Attorney’s Office,” the ACLU wrote.
The organization argued that delaying a full investigation risks prolonging what it described as a deep erosion of public confidence in both the City Attorney’s Office and the Vallejo Police Department. The letter emphasized that the allegations outlined in its July correspondence are not isolated incidents, but reflect systemic issues with significant consequences for criminal prosecutions, civil litigation and public access to government records.
According to the ACLU, the July letter identified multiple categories of alleged misconduct, including claims that records connected to officer-involved shootings were destroyed, that police misconduct records were improperly shielded from public disclosure, that internal complaints were ignored or met with retaliation, that officers with disqualifying histories were hired or retained, and that the city’s Civilian Police Oversight and Accountability Commission was obstructed.
The supplemental letter expanded on those claims by detailing what the ACLU described as minimum questions that an independent investigation must answer. One central issue involves the alleged destruction of evidence from six police shootings that occurred in 2012 and 2013, which the ACLU said included “hundreds of pieces of physical and audiovisual evidence” and was later found by a superior court to be illegal.
The ACLU said those actions potentially affected criminal defendants, civil litigants and the public’s right to access records, raising questions about who authorized the destruction, which city officials were aware of it, whether discipline was imposed and whether affected individuals were notified.
Another key concern outlined in the letter involves allegations that Vallejo police maintained a separate record-keeping system that concealed officer misconduct records from courts, opposing counsel and the public. The ACLU noted that attorneys for the city admitted to the existence of such a system in court shortly before the City Council approved the Shaw Law Group contract.
The organization said that practice raises serious concerns about fairness in criminal cases, civil discovery obligations and compliance with public records laws. The letter calls for an independent investigation to determine how long the system existed, who authorized it, how records were selected for concealment and how many criminal and civil cases may have been affected.
“These questions reflect the minimum inquiry into the misconduct alleged,” the ACLU wrote, adding that only a comprehensive and independent investigation can restore confidence and identify policy changes needed to prevent similar issues in the future.
The letter warned that the city “will not get out from under the cloud of mistrust that hangs over its City Attorney’s Office and the VPD until the extent of any cover-up is made transparent, and accountability and transparency are secured.”
The supplemental letter was signed by Allyssa Victory, a senior staff attorney in the ACLU of Northern California’s Criminal Law and Immigration Program, and invited city officials to contact the organization with questions or concerns as the council considers its next steps.
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