Mustard resigns as president of VPOA
Mike Nichelini takes over spot
After a decade of service, the president of Vallejo’s police union has resigned.
Mathew Mustard left his position as president of the Vallejo Police Officers’ Association, the Times-Herald confirmed late
Wednesday night. He was replaced by Vallejo police Lt. Mike Nichelini, who currently serves as traffic division commander.
A detective sergeant with Vallejo police, Mustard served as president of the police union since 2009, according to his bio on the VPOA website.
Nichelini predicted the TimesHerald would not hear a word from Mustard about his resignation, but Mustard proved him wrong. Asked for comment on his resignation, Mustard sent a lengthy email Thursday morning, bashing the Times-Herald.
“Does a quote from me really matter?” he asked. “A long time ago I quit reading the negative things that you write about me and other Vallejo Police Officers.”
“When was the last time you wrote a positive story about a Police Officer?” he asked. “Do you really think that we are all cor
rupt racist? Do you not realize that we are all like you. We are husbands/wives, parents that are trying to provide for our families.”
Mustard’s resignation comes weeks after an article by The Appeal discovered that as president of the union (which defends officers accused of crimes or misconduct), Mustard was also in charge of several investigations. That included deciding whether the actions of Vallejo police officers were lawful when they shot someone on-duty.
“You have lost touch with the human side. We can all loose (sic) touch, we can all look at the negative in anything, we can twist facts and stats to try and accomplish a goal,” Mustard continued in the same email. “Police Officers are held to a hirer (sic) standard than any other profession. They accept that and are doing everything they can to keep their communities safe. Sir can I ask what is your goal? It does not appear to be about truth, accuracy or justice.”
Throughout 2019, the VPOA has publicly stood behind its officers time and time again, in the wake of criticism centered on police use-of-force incidents. It all started with the fatal February shooting of Willie McCoy, who was shot dozens of times by six officers responding to a report of McCoy unresponsive in the driver’s seat of a stopped car, a gun in his lap.
The VPOA has pushed back against criticism of the McCoy shooting and specifically targeted Melissa Nold, a civil rights attorney from the John Burris Law Firm, which represents McCoy’s family in a suit targeting Vallejo police.
Nichelini was observed filming Nold at a Vallejo City Council meeting last year, for no apparent reason. Nold told this newspaper she was interviewed by Vallejo investigators for an internal affairs investigation into the incident.
In a similar email response to this newspaper Wednesday night, Nichelini downplayed Mustard’s departure.
“You will not get a quote from Mat regarding this,” Nichelini wrote. “More importantly, there is no story here. Changes are made to the Board of Directors all the time. Assignments change, people retire, etc.”
Nichelini is son of former Vallejo Police Chief Robert Nichelini.
In an email sent to the union membership, Mike Nichelini said the VPOA board will be meeting in the next few weeks “to discuss the transition and filling the empty vice president position.”