Chief Shawny Williams has said troubling things under oath in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the Vallejo Police Department. He paints a picture of a toxic work climate replete with racial hostility and retaliatory fire. Plaintiff Deyana Jenkins, who filed the lawsuit after a toxic, violent encounter with officers during a 2019 traffic stop, has led to landmark legal action. This incident followed the unpopular killing of Jenkins’ uncle, Willie McCoy. It’s not why six Vallejo police officers gunned him down while he slept in his car.
The backdrop of Jenkins’ lawsuit raises serious questions about the department’s accountability and its treatment of minority communities. In 2019, then Deputy Chief, Williams was promoted to Chief of the Vallejo Police Department, committed to leading and implementing reform. As he attempts to get the organization to live up to its ideals, he’s been subjected to withering criticism and threats.
After officers forcibly removed Jenkins from her car and tased her during the traffic stop, Williams began getting terrifying threats. He was warned that “some evil was ahead.” Here’s what he said, addressing in particular the threats leveled against city manager Mike Malone. According to reports, Malone used “they” to describe the Vallejo Police Officers’ Association (VPAO) when discussing the threats made toward Williams.
In his written testimony, Williams recounted the extreme vitriol that was directed at him as he tried to implement some very much needed reforms. He stated, “My resignation was a result of a pattern of constructive termination hostility,” highlighting the difficulties he encountered in maintaining a safe working environment.
Williams stepped down from his post, but the threats didn’t stop. At his house and a second home he owned outside of California, he was subject to harassment. He documented more than a dozen of these threats, both via mail and online, taking his fears for his safety inside the department to new heights.
Williams received national criticism after he fired Officer Jarrett Tonn. Tonn had previously shot and killed Sean Monterrosa at an ostensibly “pro” police protest in 2020. This took place amid nationwide protests over George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis. It increased the public’s focus and criticism of the department’s use of force.
In reflecting on his experiences, Williams noted, “There was racial animus, retaliatory things that were happening that just made it unbearable or impossible for me to perform my duties in a safe environment.” His laudable goals of reforming the Vallejo Police Department protected him neither from a rebellion within his department nor from violent, anti-Black racism outside of it.
Just three weeks before his resignation in October 2022, Williams was targeted by a “Halloween card threat. This contributed to a creeping, scandalous, and very intimidating dynamic that surrounded him. The card had a scary makeover message that said “quit cold turkey” with a loud turkey gobble noise when opened.
Williams’ experiences are just the latest in a history of troubling police practices, community outcry, and civil rights violations in Vallejo. Since then, the department has been heavily criticized each time excessive use of force became public. This begs even larger questions about systemic issues within law enforcement.
Williams told a shocking story from his time running the department. As one such colleague recently, and somewhat dramatically, put it, “This black Jesus can’t save us,” reflecting the violent history of racism and hatred that has shaped his experience.
The civil rights lawsuit continues to build steam. Williams’ allegations are sure to bring more light to the Vallejo Police Department’s practices and how they harm not only officers, but the community they’re sworn to protect and serve. The result will affect not just policies within the department, but public trust in law enforcement accountability in Vallejo.