Palo Alto Lays Off Police Spokeswoman Janine De la Vega

PALO ALTO, CA –Palo Alto Police Department Public Information Officer Janine De la Vega has been laid off amid budget cuts due to the coronavirus crisis.

De la Vega announced her departure in an email to the media Thursday.

The veteran broadcast journalist was hired as the Police Department’s first public affairs manager in 2018 according to a Palo Alto Weekly report.

She was hired as the department’s lead spokesperson and assigned to write press releases, the report said.

Longtime TV reporter Janine De la Vega hired as spokeswoman for Palo Alto Police Department - https://t.co/SPXYVUCrok pic.twitter.com/1P8aqKY0Jz
— SF Press Club (@SFPressClub) April 18, 2018

De la Vega worked at KGO-TV for about a year in her most recent position before joining the department. She worked at KTVU for 12 years before that. She also spent five years at KLAS in Las Vegas.

Her starting salary was $125,000, according to the Palo Alto Weekly report.

De la Vega said the department has not yet determined how the department would handle the public information and public affairs roles.

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