Vallejo police report rising traffic deaths, evidence backlog and stolen-vehicle hotspots; council seeks maps and prevention steps

The Vallejo Police Department told the city’s Safety Committee that it is updating how it reports operations while grappling with rising traffic fatalities, an aging evidence inventory and high rates of stolen vehicles concentrated in western parts of the city.

Captain Jerome Bautista, who oversees operations, said the department will transition to a new report format for January 2026 and that dispatch handled 12,144 incoming calls and opened 5,370 incidents in the reported period. "We had 70 collisions and only two fatal collisions documented in January," Bautista said, noting more recent fatalities were not reflected in the packet and would be updated.

The committee heard two related capacity problems: an abandoned‑vehicle backlog and evidence storage tied to tow‑yard capacity. "We started off with over 4,000 [abandoned vehicle reports] and as of January 2026 there were 1,856 pending," Bautista said, adding the count has continued to fall as staff work through the list. Lieutenant Huff told the committee the department is rewriting its tow‑yard contract to increase towing capacity and that the SeeClickFix abandoned‑vehicle list was closer to 1,300 at the time of the meeting.

Lieutenant Josh Catham described a bottleneck with releasing vehicles that are held as evidence. "A lot of these cases are not filed with the DA's office, therefore they've never seen the report," Catham said. He explained the DA currently must contact defense counsel before a vehicle can be released; in many cases the defense has not been assigned because the case was not filed, so vehicles remain in storage. VPD said it is negotiating an agreement with the DA’s office that would allow, in filed cases, the DA to assume storage paperwork after 30 days; the change is still under review.

Stolen vehicles were identified as a persistent problem. Bautista said Vallejo is among the highest local jurisdictions in Solano County for vehicle theft and that officers deploy Flock license‑plate readers and reactive patrols. "If we have more unobligated time to dedicate officers to provide extra patrols in those areas, we will certainly encourage that," he said. Council members asked that future reports include a geographic overlay so they can see which beats — the department’s numbered patrol areas — are driving trends in aggravated assault, simple assault, larceny and stolen vehicles.

Public commenters praised recent reductions in backlog but urged additional prevention measures. Richard Hybels, who has tracked the backlog for years, said the department’s progress is tangible: he estimated the backlog fell from roughly 4,000 in November 2024 to about 1,200. Another commenter urged a citywide street‑lighting campaign, arguing improved lighting would reduce crashes and support small businesses.

Council members pressed VPD for concrete follow‑up: a beat overlay showing where incidents cluster; proposals for retail‑theft operations and business checks in commercial corridors; and a public‑education effort on simple anti‑theft measures. Bautista and other VPD speakers agreed to provide additional geographic detail at the next meeting and to continue negotiations with the DA on evidence‑release procedures.

The committee approved the March 4 meeting minutes by roll call vote before the operations presentation. The committee requested VPD return with beat maps and a plan for targeted interventions at the next Safety Committee meeting.