Vallejo police hold community town hall to address changes, staffing shortages
VALLEJO — The Vallejo Police Department heard concerns from the public Tuesday as they continue to deal with a critical staffing shortage.
It comes amid discussions over potentially bringing in officers from outside agencies to help patrol city streets. One of those agencies that could step in to help is the Solano County Sheriff's Office and Solano-area California Highway Patrol.
But it sounds like they're not at that stage just yet.
Last month, the staffing shortage forced city officials to declare a state of emergency that would allow them to ask for help from other agencies.
In Tuesday night's city council meeting, many people were asking what the department is doing to recruit more officers and how the department can cut down on response times.
According to the Vallejo police chief, the average response time for a priority one call is 11 minutes — that's anything from a break-in to a homicide.
However, for priority two calls, it can be anywhere up to two hours. Chief Jason Ta said it is unacceptable and the idea of bringing outside officers is not off the table.
"We just can't continue on the same strategy and be satisfied with the results we're getting today, and that's why we're having those discussions," he said.
The department is also working to introduce a new team to respond to mental health calls. The hope is that those calls will be diverted to the unit, allowing more officers to respond to urgent violent crimes.
We reached out to Solano CHP and they said they have the ability to respond if needed, but they haven't received a formal request from the City of Vallejo just yet.