Jan. 13--Residents demanded more accountability from the Vallejo Police Department on Saturday during a meeting aimed at improving the relationship between the community and officers.
The two-hour forum, facilitated by Carol Russo of the U.S. Justice Department, was the first of a series, and comes after a number of officer-involved shootings last year -- in which six suspects were killed -- caused public outcry.
"We are here because we as an organization have failed," Vallejo police Lt. Sid DeJesus told the gathering of about 40. "We forgot how to communicate with people who we are serving here."
Saturday's meeting was at Union Baptist Church in Vallejo's Lofas neighborhood, where Mario Romero, 23, was shot and killed by Vallejo police on Sept.2 while in his car outside his home. Members of Romero's family, who have been highly critical of police and their version of what happened, attended the meeting. Also attending were family members of Guy Jarreau, who was shot and killed by police in December 2010.
There was a breakdown in communication between the public and the community, especially during fatal officer-involved shootings, DeJesus said. He told those attending the session about what steps the police department is taking to address community concerns.
For example, Vallejo police have made it easier to file complaints against the department, streamlining the process online and keeping forms at the police department lobby. In both cases, people are not required to talk to any officers.
The department also will assign an officer from its professional standards bureau to contact the family of any person killed during an officer-involved shooting to better facilitate communication.
"We need to be more responsive to the needs of the community," DeJesus said.
Those who attended largely agreed.
Media were asked to leave during a small-group session, but were allowed back into the room after about a half hour, when the groups returned to the larger meeting.
Cephus Johnson said his group emphasized a need for oversight.
"With citizen oversight, we begin to break this distrust of the police department," Johnson said.
Johnson is the uncle of Oscar Grant, a Hayward resident who was shot and killed by BART Officer Johannes Mehserle at Oakland's Fruitvale station on New Year's Day 2009.
Among the groups' suggestions were making complaints on specific officers publicly accessible and having officers who patrol neighborhoods stop and engage with residents in order to build a sense of trust and community. Other ideas included having every officer take a drug, alcohol and psychiatric evaluation, and to have regular meetings in which youth can meet officers.
But while the meeting's purpose and tone was to bridge the strained divide between Vallejo officers and some areas they cover, not everyone agreed.
"We need to make a change, because every Vallejo Police Department cop needs to be removed. We need to clean it up," Jarreau's cousin Bernice Spencer said. "I'm not here for a relationship with them. It is too late. Every last one of them needs to pay for the lives they continue to take."
Spencer had the last say in the meeting. More are planned for different neighborhoods across Vallejo.
"Remember, this is just the very beginning," Russo said.
The next meeting time, date and place will be posted on the Vallejo city website, www.ci.vallejo.ca.us
Contact Irma Widjojo at (707) 553-6835 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @IrmaVTH. Contact Lanz Christian Banes at (707) 553-6833 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @LanzTimesH.
Copyright 2013 - Times-Herald, Vallejo, Calif.
