Vallejo police report April crime figures, warn staffing gaps limit patrol coverage

Captain Bautista of the Vallejo Police Department presented the operations bureau’s April 2026 report, reporting that dispatchers fielded 12,395 calls and the department created 5,677 incidents for that month.

Bautista said police handled 4,428 calls for service in April, 79 felony arrests and 167 misdemeanor arrests year‑to‑date, and that the department recorded two homicides for April with two additional homicides reported in May, bringing the year‑to‑date total to four. He said the traffic division logged zero fatal collisions in April but that the city is at seven fatal collisions year‑to‑date.

Bautista also walked the committee through staffing numbers: 82 sworn officers on the roster, 78 active and 4 inactive; 40 officers were on patrol at the time of the update. He said four officers recently began field training, several trainees are in regional academies, and about 28 applicants were at various stages of hiring. Bautista described the department’s patrol goal as six teams with 10 officers per team (60 on patrol) but said current shortages forced a weekend team to be collapsed and reduced real‑time patrol capacity.

Council members pressed the police for recruitment strategies and laterals from other agencies, noting laterals tend to remain longer when they join by choice. One council member told the department to “have a very specific conversation around recruiting laterals” and asked for ideas on incentives and faster onboarding.

The department confirmed it is continuing public‑awareness campaigns (including neighborhood watch outreach) and exploring grant opportunities to pay for victim services and training.

The committee approved the prior meeting’s minutes at the opening of the session.