Investigation into Vallejo PD's badge-bending nears end, city attorney says
(Photo courtesy Open Vallejo; Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
An internal investigation into an underground practice among some Vallejo Police Department officers that involved bending the tips of their badges after an officer-involved shooting is expected to conclude by mid-September, the city’s attorney said this week.
The comments were made at a court hearing early Friday morning, according to reporter Brian Krans who covered the hearing for freelance journalist John Glidden’s website.
Last year, the independent watchdog news outlet Open Vallejo reported the practice, known as the “Badge of Honor,” completed with backyard barbecues each time a police officer was involved in a fatal shooting.
The revelation came as the nation was reeling from the effects of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer last year, as well as a similar incident in which a Vallejo officer fatally shot 22-year-old Sean Monterrosa during a period of looting and civil unrest.
In December, an attorney with the union representing Vallejo’s police officers acknowledged the practice took place, but said it was intended to celebrate an officer saving their own life, not taking one. The affirmation was made in a letter sent by the attorney to the independent investigator probing the incident. Portions of the letter were disclosed for the first time this week by the Vallejo Times Herald newspaper.
The union’s attorney, Michael Rains, said the Open Vallejo story painting the badge-bending ceremony as a blood ritual was “categorically false.” He also said the practice started in Contra Costa County and was merely franchised by officers in Vallejo.
On Friday, Vallejo’s assistant city attorney Katelyn Knight indicated the internal investigation was focused less on the symbolism of the ceremony and more on whether any Vallejo officers who took part of it were violating department policy or the law.
“It’s a personnel investigation into alleged misconduct,” Knight said, according to Krans’ report.
Knight said the investigation was “very broad,” Krans reported, and that the length of time it took to complete was not intended to delay any potential bad publicity that may come as a result of its findings.
No police officers have been formally named by the city or the law enforcement agency as participators in the badge-bending ceremony. Open Vallejo has named several, though at least one of those officers has denied his involvement.
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