Antioch Police Staffing Levels Drop to 76 Full-Duty Officers, Work on Hiring

On Tuesday, Antioch Police Chief Steve Ford held a press conference to provide an update on the FBI Investigation, hiring and other tidbits.

The chief provided a 4-minute update on a variety of topics before taking 10-minutes of questions. No Antioch City Councilmember was present at the press conference.

Here is an overview:

FBI Investigation
The investigation is open and ongoing in the hands of the FBI and the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office. He reminded the public officers deserve their due process by law and should not be judged or tried in court of public opinion. He also said the reported allegations are not a reflection of the entire police department.

Police Hiring
Says they are in a robust recruiting and hiring drive to hire more police officers—including a $30k incentive program for new and lateral officers. The larger conversation will begin on officer retention and created a leadership program.

When asked about challenges in hiring offices, Ford responded: Across the country are having challenges as its not the same profession it used to be and young people have other outlets to make a living. Young people have other job sectors and opportunities.

Staffing Levels
The Antioch Police Department currently has 102 sworn officers. Currently 8 are on paid administrative leave due to the FBI/DA investigation. 76 officers are full-duty as of Tuesday.

Note – as of August 6, the police department was at 78 officers at full time duty when the mayor brought forward his proposal of an incentive program at the request of Chief Ford. The police department was briefly fully staffed at 115 officers last year under police chief Tammany Brooks. To date, the police department is down 39 officers.

Community Trust and Relationships
Chief Ford reiterated they are committed to the community and strategically infused community forums. Command staff and officers accompany police chief every month to provide the community a platform to engage with Antioch Police in “meaningful conversation” from crime prevention, community policing strategies, youth services, and neighborhood blight. They have also established midnight basketball, school safety protocols, partnering with community-based organizations and established PAL Program.

K9 and Cell Phone Use
Police are currently in committee to discuss K9 dog bite policy and a system to better track cell phone use. This was introduced at a Sept. 13 press conference.

Body Camera Release Policy
When asked about releasing body camera footage involving Councilmember Tamisha Torres-Walker, he said they consulted with the city attorney and the decision was made not to release the body camera footage.  The chief did say there is rules and regulations on releasing body camera footage.

FYI
This was no in the press conference, but here is a look at the current crime statistics listed on the Antioch Police Website as the police department has been understaffed since last August.