Former Vallejo PD chief details reason for his 2022 resignation in deposition

"Williams' deposition is part of a civil case involving Willie McCoy's niece. McCoy was shot and killed by Vallejo police in 2019 at a Taco Bell drive-thru. According to a federal civil rights lawsuit that McCoy's niece filed, she says she was pulled over by two of the officers who shot at him a couple of months later. She claims she was thrown on the ground, tased and arrested. Her attorney says she was never charged with a crime."

"In 2022, approximately three months after the Vallejo Police Department Police Officers Association issued a vote of no confidence in then VPD Chief Shawn Williams, he resigned. In a deposition with civil rights attorney Melissa Nold, Williams testified his resignation was a result of "racial animus" and "retaliatory things that were happening that just made it unbearable or impossible" for him "to perform" his "duties in a safe environment.""

"A couple of months later, Jenkins says two of the officers who shot her uncle stopped her, dragged her out of a car, threw her on the ground, tased and arrested her. RELATED: Vallejo POA votes no confidence in Police Chief Shawny Williams as tensions grow "From what we can tell, it was racial profiling. The officers were very aggressive," Nold said. At the time, Vallejo police said she was combative and resisting arrest. Nold said she deposed Williams because he said he was threatened"

Shawny Williams resigned as Vallejo Police Chief in 2022 after a Police Officers Association no-confidence vote. Williams testified that racial animus, retaliatory actions, and threats received by mail made it unbearable to perform duties in a safe environment. Williams was the first African American police chief in Vallejo. The deposition was given in a civil lawsuit related to Willie McCoy, who was shot more than 50 times by Vallejo officers at a Taco Bell drive‑thru in 2019. McCoy's niece, Deyana Jenkins, alleges she was later pulled over, dragged from a car, thrown to the ground, tased, and arrested; police said she was combative.

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