On Thursday, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe held a press conference regarding a new in investigation which has resulted in several officers being placed on leave.
With an ongoing investigation, this means the Antioch Police Department becomes more short-staffed and was potentially going to call a special meeting with the police chief to ask tough questions. He also stated he had no problem making administrative changes within the city—meaning the firing of police chief Steve Ford was not off the table.
Thorpe did not get into the new investigation amid a report by the East Bay Times and said prior to the press conference he had not spoken with the police chief or knew police staffing levels or patrol numbers. This investigation is separate from the FBI investigation announced last March.
In a email to acting city manager Forrest Ebbs, he did not provide the data when asked twice and said it would be provided to the media at a later date.
Meanwhile, the Antioch Police Department is scheduled to have a Community Forum Thursday night with Chief Ford at Jack London Elementary School (4550 Country Hills) at 6:30 pm.
Summary of the Press Conference (may not be exact) and does not include the Q&A portion:
“As the mayor of Antioch, I have the unfortunate duty of sharing with you that on Monday, the city, uh, (long pause while he found his place on his notes) I received some information that has resulted, that has arisen from an ongoing invest, ongoing investigation of the Antioch Police Department that several additional officers have been place on administrative leave.
I know that since Tuesday, rumors have swirled about the number of officers who have been placed on administrative leave and the nature of this matter. Let me be very clear. I am not here to confirm the number of officers that are involved nor am I here to confirm any rumors or speculation about the nature of what was discovered. I respect and believe in the right to due process. It’s a fundamental value of our county and who we are as Americans.
In addition, we as a city have an obligation to ensure that these employees’ personnel records are being confidential to the extent that the law prescribes. We as a city have every intention of respecting confidentiality and due process.
That being said, we’re also not going to sweep these matters under the rug as we’ve done in the past and pretend that we and pretend that we have issues, that we have a few, that we have a few issues with a few bad apples. It is clear we have a cultural and systemic problems that persist to this very day.
As a result, the residents of our city are going to see, are going, are going to pay an excessive amount of money for potential support from outside law enforcement agencies, a loss of manpower, potential litigation’s, and outside independent investigations.
To say that I am outraged is an understatement as it relates to this matter. But I am also deeply disappointed. I’m deeply disappointed because for a long time, those of us who have been elected to serve in this very room behind me have failed to ask tough questions about what’s happening in our various city departments, including the police department.
I will say again what I said in a recent press conference—the Antioch Police Department is not an independent agency of its own. They are a city department that is held accountable by the city manager, the city council, and of course, our city’s residents. As you saw recently, I personally do not have a problem making any management changes if the people sitting in these chairs of authority cannot accept that reality. That goes for all positions from all of our departments including the Chief of Police all the way up on up to the City Manager.
Since advancing the idea of police ref, in a police reform ad hoc committee in 2020 when I was serving as a councilmember, the police union, MAGA republicans, local blogs, and political opponents have worked hard to paint me and others as anti-law enforcement for simply asking for accountability.
I want to make myself very clear in stating that for the record that I am very much pro-all of our departments, including law enforcement, which is why we gave all of our employees equal pay raises across the board. But being pro-law enforcement does not mean you turn a blind eye to allow bad behavior to persist. That’s not what the residents of our city deserve and equally is not what the hard-working police officers who play by the rules deserve as well.
This is undoubtedly impacting, this is undoubtedly going to impact staffing levels, which is not good. I have yet to be briefed on what the way forward will be, which is also not good. On that brief, I plan soon I will be calling a special meeting of the Antioch City Council where the Chief will be our special guest to answer all of these questions—specifically how we are going to maintain police service levels.”
Antioch Police Officers Association Response:
In response to Mayor Thorpe’s press conference, the APOA would like to assure the residents, visitors, and employees within the City of Antioch that public safety is, and will remain to be a top priority. The APOA respects due process and will not be commenting on the administrative investigation currently being conducted.
We stand by the hard working men and women of this organization and commend our officers for working diligently under the current staffing crisis, to provide the residents with a level of safety and service they deserve. We hope the administrative investigation is conducted in a timely manner, and we look forward to moving forward building our department back to where it once was, with regards to staffing.
We will not fall victim to the rhetoric of outside influences who aim to ridicule and discredit the hardworking members of the APOA, as it only gets in the way of the great relationship we have with the community of Antioch. To be clear, the APOA will continue to dedicate resources, make the necessary adjustments, and support our members who serve this community with dignity and respect.
A statement was issued by Antioch City Councilmember Mike Barbanica:
“I had no idea from city staff about the recent APD developments. I learned of it this morning from a reporter and citizens alerting me to it. Apparently, the mayor was made aware yesterday and scheduled a press conference. This is unacceptable,” said Barbanica.
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