Vallejo approves one-year Solano County sheriff contract to staff four patrol beats

The Vallejo City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to adopt a resolution approving a one-year agreement with the Solano County Sheriff’s Office to provide municipal law-enforcement services in four of the city’s eight patrol beats from noon to midnight, seven days a week, beginning Jan. 1, 2026, if the county signs and implements the agreement.

City Manager Murray told the council the estimated one-year cost is $11.2 million, including roughly $5.8 million for personnel, $1.3 million for vehicles, $1.9 million for insurance and liability, $1.7 million in administrative overhead and $400,000 for services and supplies. Murray said the contract is drafted as an actual-cost reimbursement (time-and-materials) agreement and does not include a single not-to-exceed cap.

The contract would place Solano County personnel in beats 1–4 and assign 17 full-time personnel: 12 deputies, two supervisors, one lieutenant and two dispatchers. The county would not perform specialized criminal or traffic-collision investigations. The draft agreement runs Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2026; either party may terminate with 90 days’ notice.

Why it matters: Vallejo has been operating under a declared public-safety staffing emergency since 2023, and the city’s sworn police ranks fell sharply between 2021 and 2023. City staff said the department had 67 officers at its low point in March 2023 (36 on patrol), and “as of June 2025” had 82 total officers, recruiting about seven officers per year. The chief of police and several council members said the contract would reduce…