Oakley Set to Talk Police Staffing Levels and Dispatch Change

On Tuesday, the Oakley City Council will hold a work session to discuss police staffing levels within the City of Oakley as well as a possible dispatch center change.

According to Agenda Item 7.1, there is a 9 slide PowerPoint presentation of what will be provided, however, says very little on each item at this time. It will be expanded by Chief Beard at the meeting with topics that include:

• Overview
• Challenges
• Mutual Aid
• Vision
• “Over Hires”
• Dispatch – the topic of Brentwood Dispatch Center

Back in January, Chief Beard provided an overview on calls for service for 2022 while highlighting the department as of January 10 had 25 people to do the operational work of 37. Beard also told the council that by hiring 8 officers recently it helped them avoid emergency staffing levels. He explained with a loss of two officers anticipated in the first half of 2023, with the two new trainees they don’t gain any additional bodies. He further highlighted once an officer returns, they will only be operating at 70% by mid-2023.

Oakley Councilmember Takes to Nextdoor

Fuller took to Nextdoor, as well as his personal website, over the weekend to share his thoughts on police staffing levels, possibly contracting with Brentwood Police Dispatch and while taking a shot at Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe.

Fuller repeated his call to not send aid to Antioch Police Officers in need in response to actions by Mayor Thorpe. He also attempts to rewrite history of his previous comments at the January 24 meeting. While Fuller made the request to discuss mutual aid and dispatch, no one objected to the discussion, staff simply said they would place the mutual aid and dispatch in the staffs upcoming presentation.

His reckless commentary below regarding councilpersons Shannon Shaw and Anissa Williams is both bizarre and untrue given everything is on video. Shaw’s response to aid was rather simple:

“When the call goes out for help, officers shouldn’t care what agency is asking, what City you’re in, and they certainly shouldn’t care if there is a mutual aid agreement, they just go…and help. In fact, Oakley does not have a “mutual aid agreement” with individual cities they have a policy to serve anyone who calls,” said Shaw.

In fact, Oakley Police Chief Paul Beard and City Manager Josh McMurrary echoed the comments  in a joint statement after the January 24 meeting saying that they will continue to promptly respond to requests for services by other police agencies who may be in need.

Here is what Fuller Stated:

Oakley Police Officers need the Council’s support – now. Item 7.1 on this Tuesday’s agenda (03-28-2023) is a work session to discuss enhancing the number of officers in the Oakley Police Department, contracting with the Brentwood Police Department for dispatch service, and ensuring that the Oakley officers do not become entangled with Mayor Thorpe’s (Antioch) political web. Mayor Thorpe has repeatedly stated his belief that all police officers are racist and must be oppressed and controlled. Oakley officers do not need that type of burden imposed by Mayor Thorpe.

I am thankful that Councilmembers Meadows and Henderson agreed to discuss the subject from the council dais. The number of Oakley officers is a concern. Historically there has been a consistent number of officers at home recovering from injuries. The ongoing percentage is approximately twenty-six percent. Our number of officers per one thousand residents is below the county and national average.

(I campaigned to increase the number of officers when I ran for election in 2020.)

The ongoing injuries situation, which one expects in police work, further reduces the number of officers available to respond to emergencies—increasing the deployment of officers, so the number of officers to cover for the injured officers makes sense to me. I have negative experiences when I call the Sheriff’s dispatch for an Oakley officer to respond. The frustration has gone on for years.

Other Oakley citizens inform me they have encountered the same. The result is the delay in the dispatch of Oakley officers in an emergency.

I have heard many good reports regarding the Brentwood Police Department’s communication. It makes sense to me to enable our officers to connect to BPD in an emergency, enabling a faster response time.

Mayor Thorpe is a threat to the well-being of Oakley officers. Oakley officers do respond to mutual aid requests when needed in Antioch. Oakley officers have demonstrated they work well with Antioch officers. However, Mayor Thorpe has clearly stated all police officers are racist. He has said he has not allowed officers to use specific control holds, has a citizen’s commission to review officers’ performance, and eliminated what he perceives to be military-style equipment in Antioch. In short, he is vehemently anti-police.

I do not want an Oakley officer entangled in Mayor Thorpe’s racist web and suffering debilitating consequences. Below are links to news articles describing the governmental disarray that is taking place in Antioch because of Mayor Thorpe’s posture towards the police and Antioch citizens. I have reviewed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of Contra Costa County, which outlines mutual aid.

A special note needs acknowledgment that Oakley officers are subject to the use of force policies of Oakley, and the Oakley Police Chief will review officer-involved shootings. (pg 11). Also, Oakley is not bound to respond to mutual aid requests from Antioch, especially if it is a detriment to the officers and the residents of Oakley. (pg 4). I believe the City of Antioch needs to acknowledge these provisions in writing in a separate MOU. Below is a link to a copy of the MOU. I did discuss the issue during January 24, 2023, meeting. Below is a link to a video of the council session.

Yes, it was distressing to see, by their body language, that Councilmembers Shaw and Williams found the suggestion of officer safety and well being bemusing and comical. Fortunately, Mayor Meadows and Councilmember view the subject as serious, so I am confident that three council members will have a mature, professional discussion of the items from the dais. Councilmembers Shaw and Williams published items (Nextdoor and Contra Costa Times) that I suggested Oakley officers not respond to Antioch mutual aid requests. Those statements are simply not true.

Also, Shaw and Williams indicated that officers go to a mutual aid response no matter what. That attitude is dangerous and reckless.

Any officer responses need measured judgment, and the governmental structure of Oakley needs to be in concert with their actions. Seasoned officers do support that reckless abandon in responding to an officer needs help calls can have devastating consequences for all concerned.

Again, a link is below to the video and my statements. (Councilmembers Shaw and Williams are sitting to the left as the viewed watches video.)

Fuller then provided numerous links to his personal blog.

Oakley City Council Meeting

• Tuesday, March 28, 2023
• 6:30 PM
• Oakley City Council Chambers
• 3231 Main Street, Oakley, California 94561
• Full Agenda – click here

Previous Stories:

• Antioch Police Officers Association (APOA) Address Comments by Mayor Lamar Thorpe and Oakley Councilmember George Fuller – Read Statement
• Oakley Councilmember Suggests Not Sending Officers into City of Antioch — Full Story
• Oakley Councilwoman Responds to Statement of Not Sending Cops into Antioch — Full Story