Badge-bending report still not public
The story from Tuesday night's special Vallejo City Council meeting wasn't so much what residents saw, but what they didn't see.
Councilmember Christina Arriola was among those raising concerns over the continued unavailability to the public of a 150page report on the Vallejo Police Department's ritual of marking shooting deaths with bended badges.
The report had previously been turned over to Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams, who told ABC News reporter Melanie Woodrow earlier this year that “her office doesn't chase rumors.” Woodrow also reported earlier this year that Williams had “proposed to hold a press conference and prepared draft statements for the City Attorney's Office review and response long ago.”
“I have been very, very supportive of the families and I consider them a family,” Arriola said. “If there is some legal reason why it's zipped, it's locked, we cannot release it, they should at least know that and the reasons why it's zipped up, locked and put into the vault.”
Vallejo City Attorney Veronica Nebb responded by saying the council would “receive a confidential memorandum with regard to that topic and make a decision as to how much of that confidential memorandum you do want released to the public. The confidential memorandum will describe the law applicable to the release of such records.”
Back in March, a council meeting was marked by protests both inside and outside the chambers, with one attendee shouting: “When are we going to get to the badge-bending?” Seconds later, others in the crowd voiced the same opinion, causing the council to halt its meeting and take a recess that lasted about half an hour.
A chant of “No justice, no peace!” quickly began, followed by the calling out of names of people killed by police officers.
The decade-long issue came to a head in July 2020, when the website Open Vallejo released a story claiming VPD officers over the years had bent the points of their badges each time they had killed someone in the line of duty.
At that March meeting, Kori McCoy, brother of Willie McCoy, shot and killed by VPD in a Taco Bell drivethru in 2019, asked Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams why the report hadn't yet been released.
“You have no power to change things,” Kori McCoy said to Williams. “You work for the union. They tell you what to do. You know that's the truth. If not, you would release the badge-bending report.
“Don't put it on the city attorney. Do what's right. Do it. Release it. You have the power to fire these officers that bent their badges. Don't say you can't do it. You could do it tomorrow!”
Calls for the report's release — including from Mayor Robert McConnell — have grown since. In mid-March, former Vallejo police officer Michael Kent Tribble testified in court that he and retired officer Dan Golinveaux helped originate the ritual back in 2000 while working for the Concord Police Department.
Tribble, who retired in 2021, testified in Solano County Superior Court in Vallejo that the ritual was “a way to signify the fact that we would stand up and do our job.”
He said the ritual was not held solely for fatal shootings. Tribble's testimony came in a case involving Dominic Milano, who was fired on by Vallejo officers — including Matthew Komoda — in 2017. Milano, who survived the shooting, was charged with the attempted murder of Komoda.
Other officers named Tuesday in the ritual included Komoda, David McLaughlin, Sanjay Ramrakha, Mark Galios and Zachary Jacobsen, according to the Vallejo Sun. Jacobsen shot and killed Angel Ramos in 2017. According to those reports, the alleged badge bendings were often done at The Relay Club, a bar in Vallejo.
Williams spoke to the council Tuesday meeting, addressing questions of department reform and understaffing. Vallejo Vice Mayor Rozzana VerderAliga as well as Councilmember Hakeem Brown commended Williams for his hard work behind the scenes.
“This showed a lot of the challenges we face, but also the accomplishments,” Brown said. “You haven't just talked about it, but you actually did the work. It's been a group effort. I will start with Greg Nyhoff (former city manager). The first day I was elected we sat down and talked about police reform and how it needed to be addressed and the issues with civil rights and racism in this community and most importantly the lack of voice for the Black community and the minorities … I really appreciate your conviction then and I appreciate your follow up now. I believe you have had an extremely hard job.”
Arriola said she's done her best to get involved with the VPD and see what needs to be done to fix things.
“I've been just a little pushy on my end because I speak for the community,” Arriola said. “I think you know that, which is why I took the initiative to go along with the ride-along to get a first-hand response to some of these community members in regards to staffing and responding to a call that comes through dispatch. So I got a very clear view of what's going on the most gutsy, raw level. Not the political stuff and recommendations, but the everyday officer that responds to the community.”