For a generation, a secretive clique within the Vallejo Police Department has commemorated fatal shootings with beers, backyard barbecues, and by bending the points of their badges each time they kill in the line of duty, an investigation by Open Vallejo has found.

Ordered disclosed after a years-long legal fight, the report is the city’s own investigation into a tradition in which Vallejo police bent their badges to mark the civilians they killed. The report's release comes six years after Open Vallejo first exposed the macabre ritual.

Solano County prosecutors have filed dozens of charges against a former Kaiser employee accused of secretly recording more than 30 people over a period of years.

After Open Vallejo revealed that Vallejo officers bent their badges to mark fatal shootings, Fairfield police pledged to investigate “immediately.” Instead, the agency took more than a year to investigate a former Vallejo officer in its ranks — and only began after he retired.

The announcement comes just one day after Andrew Murray’s latest performance review in a closed session of the Vallejo City Council.

A UC Berkeley grad vanished for two years after leaving his life behind to join the Zizians, a cult-like group now allegedly linked to six deaths nationwide. His parents believed he had been brainwashed. He posted $15,000 and left a Maryland jail on Friday.

The California State Bar has opened a confidential inquiry into the Vallejo City Attorney’s Office, Open Vallejo has learned, adding a new front in the mounting scrutiny of the office. City Attorney Veronica Nebb wrote in an email Friday that her office is unaware of any investigation.

When officials rush to comment on police shootings before the facts are in, they risk corrupting investigations and eroding public confidence in law enforcement, according to experts.

How should courts evaluate police shootings when someone tries to drive away? A unanimous Supreme Court ruled last May that courts must consider the totality of the circumstances — not just the moment before an officer pulls the trigger. #Minneapolis

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In a newly released deposition, former Vallejo Police Chief Shawny Williams said he resigned after the city failed to investigate a series of anonymous threats against him and alleged that the Vallejo City Attorney’s Office tried to intimidate him over his testimony.

EXCLUSIVE: The Solano County District Attorney's Office wants to shield video of the most recent Vallejo police shooting from public view, despite a state law mandating its release. Open Vallejo has obtained the unredacted recordings. Watch the video here.

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EXCLUSIVE: The Solano County District Attorney's Office wants to shield video of the most recent Vallejo police shooting from public view, despite a state law mandating its release. Open Vallejo has obtained the unredacted recordings. Watch the video here.

Open Vallejo has compiled a shareable list of places to get free groceries in Vallejo. The federal government will fund only partial food stamp benefits this month, the Trump administration said in court filings Monday. See the list: openvallejo.org/2025/10/31/w...

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Local nutrition assistance organizations have already seen an increase in need, and are preparing for more amid a potential cutoff of food aid on Saturday. Here is where to find free groceries, how Solano County's efforts compare to those of its neighbors, and how to help.

Vallejo immigrant rights groups braced for raids as warning flyers appeared downtown on Friday. By this afternoon, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee announced that federal authorities had canceled sweeping plans for operations across the greater Bay Area.

Vallejo Police Department Critical Incident Review Board member Phillip Balbuena resigned one day after Open Vallejo reported on his online comments and those of another commissioner, which experts said threatened the integrity of the oversight process.

Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, blocked the administration’s attempt to sidestep an earlier order finding protests in Oregon were “not significantly violent or disruptive” enough to justify federalizing the Oregon National Guard.

Solano County will pay $17 million to resolve a “historic” civil rights lawsuit involving the sheriff’s office, as supervisors approve an $11.2 million contract to deploy deputies in Vallejo.

The comments, about the shooting of a man suffering a mental health crisis in the back, included praise for officers’ marksmanship. A national use-of-force expert called the commentary “wildly inappropriate,” while Vallejo’s mayor called for one official’s “immediate removal” from the investigation.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and state health officials released the recommendations as part of the state’s newly formed health alliance with Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.

Police video and court proceedings revealed new details of the shooting, even as officials seek to prevent further disclosures.

The California Supreme Court has denied a last-ditch effort by the city of Vallejo to conceal an investigation into officers who bent their badges to mark fatal shootings.

Vallejo police found a 73-year-old woman safe on Wednesday, more than two days after she went missing.

Vallejo police are investigating the 12th homicide in the city this year, after police officers and firefighters found a man shot dead inside a car Monday morning.

A new state bill awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature would give officials more tools to identify and combat sexual abuse and educate students to better identify the most common signs of grooming behavior.

Vallejo police are investigating the 11th homicide of 2025 after a man was found dead on the 100 block of Carolina Street Thursday afternoon.

Congratulations to our colleagues at @kcdefender.bsky.social for winning the 2025 @inn.org Community Champion Award! Read about their groundbreaking B-REAL Freedom School here.

For the second time in three days, a Vallejo police SUV collided with a civilian vehicle on city streets, disabling both vehicles and prompting an emergency response.

There's still time to register for ProJourn's Newsgathering Legal Training on Wednesday! Held in partnership with @theajp.bsky.social, this free, virtual session will cover journalists' legal rights on topics like recording, trespass, and more. Sign up: https://www.shorturl.at/yaHxM

The Vallejo Police Department has identified two officers who shot and injured a 24-year-old man during an apparent mental health crisis last week.

State officials said they acted in response to what they called the “destruction” of scientific integrity at the nation’s top public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A Vallejo police SUV collided with a blue sedan Tuesday evening, injuring an officer and one other person. The crash occurred the same week as an alleged hit-and-run just four blocks away that left a bicyclist with life-threatening injuries.

Vallejo police shot a 24-year-old man during an apparent mental health crisis in East Vallejo Friday, the first shooting by Vallejo officers since November 2023.

Bay Area air quality regulators have ordered a Vallejo landscape supply company, Crown Hill Materials, to immediately shut down a concrete batch plant that it has allegedly been operating without required air quality permits.

Two shootings less than four miles apart left two people dead in Vallejo Monday — the city’s ninth and 10th homicides this year.

The shooting occurred in a homeless encampment on White Slough, near where a gunman shot three people in May, two fatally.

The Vallejo City Council voted Tuesday to renew its search for a law firm tasked with exploring whether recent misconduct allegations against the City Attorney’s Office merit an independent investigation.

Dash cam footage of a high-speed Vallejo police pursuit surfaced on Instagram last month, alongside rap music and a warning, in apparent violation of multiple police policies.

We’re thrilled to share that Open Vallejo met our $30,000 July fundraising goal. On top of this, we will also receive $10,000 in matching funds — all thanks to your generous support. There’s still time to donate! Help sustain our reporting by becoming a monthly member today.

The city of Vallejo “erroneously” withheld the vote tally in response to a public records request by Open Vallejo, Deputy City Attorney Sukhnandan Nijjar wrote in a statement Thursday.