Vallejo oversight panel delays personnel-complaints recommendation, schedules special meeting to meet 45-day deadline

The Vallejo Police Oversight and Accountability Commission on April 9 agreed to postpone final recommendations on a revised personnel-complaints policy until a special meeting the week of April 20, saying commissioners still lacked key information and wanted staff answers before issuing formal advice to the chief.

Community members and commissioners said they needed clearer materials and more time to digest extensive supplemental comments. Sana, an organizer with the ACLU of Northern California, told the panel that an independent attorney is essential to the commission27s ability to operate independently and to avoid a conflict of interest if the city attorney also represents the police department: “POAC is entitled to and must have unconflicted counsel to be effective,” she said.

Deputy Chief Knight and city staff told commissioners they had provided the department27s draft policy, the prior policy, an executive summary and a comparison document, and that staff was compiling responses to community and commissioner questions. Knight said staff aimed to consolidate public feedback from town halls and the myvallejo.com portal and work with the California Department of Justice and the city27s evaluator to decide whether policy changes are necessary.

Commissioners pressed staff on how the city posts and distributes supplemental public comments. Several commissioners said they had not received supplemental materials that staff said were posted online; staff explained that materials submitted after the agenda is published are posted as supplemental packets and may not generate automated email notices unless staff forwards them. A commissioner noted the ordinance2745-day review window for the commission and said the period risks being compressed if staff responses are delayed.

The panel voted unanimously to continue the item and hold a special meeting the week of April 20; dates discussed included April 20 and April 22. Commissioners asked staff to provide the outstanding answers in time for the special meeting so the commission can complete its recommendations before the ordinance deadline. The commission also discussed forming ad hoc subcommittees to draft FAQs and compile policy changes.

What27s next: staff said it will finalize answers to written community and commissioner comments and circulate them to the commission; the special meeting will include time to discuss those answers and to work toward a resolution the commission can forward to the chief.