Vallejo, Calif – Vallejo City Manager Andrew Murray announced today that he has selected Jason Ta to serve as the City’s next permanent Police Chief. Chief Ta brings extensive policing and leadership experience to the role. He served for over 27 years with the San Jose Police Department in many capacities, including patrol; undercover, gang, robbery and sexual assault investigations; field training; traffic enforcement; internal auditing; and community services. Chief Ta departed San Jose at the rank of Captain prior to joining the Vallejo Police Department in 2021 as a Deputy Chief. Chief Ta has served as the Interim Police Chief since November 2022.
During his time serving as Vallejo’s Interim Police Chief, Ta has stabilized department staffing levels, improved the department’s relationship with the community, implemented alternative public safety programs, adopted new crime-reduction technologies and appropriately resourced and shepherded the completion of many requirements of the collaborative reform effort with the California Department of Justice (Cal-DOJ).
The City undertook a robust national search to fill the position and was fortunate to attract many very talented candidates. The City gathered input from numerous community organizations and individuals about the traits and qualifications they would like to see in the Police Chief, including through three community meetings and a community survey. The City also conducted outreach through many professional associations and other channels to attract as large, qualified and diverse a candidate pool as possible. All of the three candidates that were finalists for the position were people of color. As part of the selection process, the City convened four different interview panels (a professional panel, City staff panel and two community member panels) to rate the candidates. Ta was rated the top candidate by all four of the interview panels.
In his new capacity as Police Chief, Ta will focus on continuing to improve communication and engagement between the department and the community, increasing staffing, completing the requirements of the Cal-DOJ settlement agreement and bringing new attention and creativity to some significant quality of life issues, including violent crime, sideshows, abandoned vehicles and sex trafficking.
Murray stated that “The City was fortunate to have a pool of strong candidates. Jason distinguished himself by receiving the top rating from all four interview panels as well as having a track record of improving community relationships and advancing the collaborative reform effort. I look forward to working closely with Jason, our Police Officers, the community and Cal-DOJ to make the Vallejo Police Department a model of community-oriented constitutional policing and a rewarding and fulfilling organization in which to work.”
Chief Ta stated that “It has been a privilege serving as the Interim Police Chief for the last two years. I am honored to be selected to lead the department into the future. The Police Chief selection process was very comprehensive. I am thankful for City Manager Murray’s confidence in me advancing the department and look forward in working with him. My commitment to the community, city and department remains steadfast as we continue our journey in elevating the Vallejo Police Department in becoming the “Gold Standard” of public safety. We have come a long way and still have much road ahead. I will continue the work and momentum we have achieved in strengthening and building community engagement and trust, working collaboratively with local, county, state and federal partners, preventing and reducing crime and quality of life concerns, restoring departmental working conditions and staffing levels and completing our reform efforts with Cal-DOJ.”
Chief Ta will be installed as the Police Chief in January 2025.