California City Decides to Dissolve Police Department

The Rio Vista, CA, City Council voted late last week to dissolve its police department following the abrupt departure of the police chief, a commander, and a sergeant late last year that left the agency all but gutted.

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January 28, 2020

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The Rio Vista (CA) City Council voted late last week to dissolve its police department following the abrupt departure of the police chief, a commander, and a sergeant late last year that left the agency all but gutted.

According to NBC News, the city of roughly 9,000 residents is located approximately 60 miles east of San Francisco. Rio Vista City manager Robert Hickey said nearly half of the line officers who remained at the agency following the exodus of those three individuals felt that it was also their time to leave for another department.

In October, the city created an emergency contract with the Solano County Sheriff's Office to use deputies to fill vacant positions. Now that contract is permanent.

Lt. Jackson Harris—who works for the Solano County Sheriff's Office—said, "It's not that we're taking it over in its entirety. We're not demolishing any buildings, not changing cars or anything like that. It’s really just replacing existing officers with deputy sheriffs."

Topics:Small-Town Agencies Disbanding Agencies the west California agencies Patrol

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