VALLEJO, Calif. — After years of public controversy and litigation, the City of Vallejo has released a long-withheld investigative report confirming that police officers bent the tips of their badges following officer-involved shootings, a practice that drew national attention after it was first reported by Open Vallejo in 2020. The report’s release came only after the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California sued to compel its disclosure, reigniting questions about police accountability, department culture and whether meaningful discipline was ever possible.
The report, prepared by former Sonoma County Sheriff’s official Robert Giordano, was commissioned by the city in 2020 to investigate allegations that Vallejo police officers commemorated shootings by bending the tips of their badges. The investigation concluded in September 2021 but remained out of public view for years before its recent release.
According to the ACLU of Northern California, the report demonstrates that officers engaged in badge bending and that department leadership and city officials were aware of the practice long before it became public.
“By sitting on this information for years, the city missed any opportunity to hold any officer accountable,” said Emi Young, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California.
Young added, “Under California’s Police Officers’ Bill of Rights, agencies have one year from when they become aware of misconduct to initiate discipline. Whether the Department intended to shield the officers or merely avoid a public scandal, its dereliction of duty ensured impunity for those responsible.”
The Giordano investigation found that badge bending occurred over a number of years and identified several officers whose badges had been intentionally bent.
“The investigation revealed occurrences of ‘badge bending’ over a several year period,” the report states.
The report concluded that “a preponderance of the evidence reflects that Kent Tribble (ret.) bent the badge tips of Matt Komoda and David McLaughlin in 2016 and his own in 2003.”
It further found that “a preponderance of the evidence reflects that Terry Poyser (ret.) bent the badge tips of Jason Bahou in 2015 and Zach Jacobsen in 2017.”
The report also states that “a preponderance of the evidence also reflects that Zach Jacobsen bent the badge tip of Ryan McMahon in 2018.”
While confirming that badge bending occurred, the investigator rejected one of the most inflammatory allegations surrounding the controversy.
“The evidence reflects that ‘badge bending’ was a manner of recognizing an officer involved in a shooting who did their job in a stressful situation, did not ‘run from the fight,’ and survived,” the report states.
“It was an act that Kent Tribble initiated on an individual basis after he joined Vallejo PD in 2003, and it was something that he experienced at his prior employer, Concord PD.”
The report further concludes, “There is no evidence that ‘badge bending’ was a recognition of killing someone in the line of duty.”
Giordano also wrote, “There is insufficient evidence that badge bending was a ‘custom’ or ‘tradition’ of the department, or that bent badges were known as a ‘Badge of Honor,’ or that officers who had their badges bent were part of an assembled, secretive group.”
The investigator similarly rejected allegations that officers gathered to celebrate fatal shootings.
“With regard to the allegation that fatal shootings were commemorated or celebrated at social gatherings of officers, there is insufficient evidence to support this,” the report states.
“The evidence reflects that officers may gather after a critical incident or shooting as a means of supporting the officer(s) involved, and the gatherings may include coming together for a barbeque, pizza or beer.”
The report concludes, “There is no evidence that the gatherings are formed to celebrate the killing of a human being as opposed to peer support following a critical incident.”
Even so, Giordano determined that badge bending itself constituted misconduct because it undermined public confidence in law enforcement.
“Although the scandalous story portrayed in the Open Vallejo article was not substantiated by the evidence, the evidence nonetheless supports findings of misconduct,” the report states.
“The badge is a symbol of public trust and the authority vested in law enforcement officers. It is to be used only for official purposes.”
“It is not to be used to mark an officer’s engagement and survival in a critical shooting incident.”
The report continues, “Such an act can be misinterpreted or send the wrong message about Vallejo PD officers’ approach to use of force and the sanctity of human life, as it has here.”
“The City and its police department have suffered a media firestorm and damage to their collective reputation as a result of these instances of badge misuse and how they have been interpreted.”
The report also found failures by command staff.
“In addition, it appears that one member of the command staff, Capt. Lee Horton, knew that one or more officers had a bent badge tip in the past (prior to 2019) and acted to stop the behavior,” the report states.
“However, there is evidence that Capt. Horton failed to timely inform other members of the command staff, including the Chief, about these events so that decisions on investigations and potential discipline could be made.”
The report ultimately sustained policy violations against several current and former officers while exonerating others. Among those receiving sustained findings were Zach Jacobsen, Kyle Wylie, Lee Horton, Terry Poyser, Ryan McMahon and retired Lt. Kent Tribble. Other officers, including Jason Bahou, Jeremy Huff, Mark Galios, Jason Scott, Jarrett Tonn and Todd Tribble, received exonerated findings on the allegations examined.
The ACLU argues that the report itself illustrates broader institutional failures extending well beyond individual officers.
According to the organization, the investigation accepted many officers’ explanations at face value, portrayed some officers who possessed bent badges as victims of the practice, focused blame on a handful of retired personnel and failed to hold department leadership accountable for allowing the culture to persist.
The organization further contends that the report leaves unanswered questions about how widely known the practice was, why no timely administrative action was taken and why officers identified as participating in or enabling the conduct continued serving in the department, with some later receiving promotions.
The report itself notes that many potential witnesses were unavailable because they had retired, moved away or declined interviews, and that some key individuals could not be interviewed during the investigation. It also documents interviews with more than 40 current and former officials, including former City Manager Greg Nyhoff, former Mayor Bob Sampayan, numerous command staff members and current and retired officers.
The badge-bending controversy emerged amid broader scrutiny of the Vallejo Police Department’s history of officer-involved shootings and allegations of excessive force.
According to the ACLU, Vallejo officers shot 56 civilians between April 2001 and June 2020, killing 30. The organization also states that the city paid nearly $21 million in police misconduct settlements between 2017 and 2026.
The report traces the badge-bending allegations to incidents dating back to 2003 and describes how department leadership first became aware of concerns surrounding bent badges before the issue gained public attention in 2020 after reporting by Open Vallejo.
Although the investigation rejected allegations that badge bending symbolized celebrating killings or that it represented an official department tradition, it concluded that intentionally altering official police badges violated department policy and damaged public confidence in law enforcement.
For the ACLU, the report’s release marks only the beginning of a broader public reckoning.
The organization argues that Vallejo residents deserve answers not only about who bent badges, but also about how the practice persisted for years, why senior officials failed to act sooner and whether meaningful accountability is still possible after the delay in releasing the investigation.
The report, completed nearly four years before its public release, now enters a city that continues to grapple with questions of police oversight, transparency and community trust.
The ACLU maintains that the report should prompt renewed public demands for accountability, while the Giordano investigation itself concludes that badge bending constituted misconduct because it compromised the symbolic integrity of the police badge and undermined public confidence in the Vallejo Police Department.
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