Antioch Police Oversight Commission Defies City Council Request

On Monday, the Antioch Police Oversight Commission took no action on a “pause” and will continue meeting twice per month.

The discussion was in response to the Antioch City Council meeting on February 25 where the council recommended a temporary “pause” until June so they could work on a future plan, ensure training and funding was available while also appoint new members to the commission. At the meeting, Antioch Mayor Ron Bernal brought the idea to institute a temporary pause on commission meetings until June 2025 in order to provide adequate time to:

Review and Refine the Current Ordinance: Examine the existing framework to ensure it aligns with best practices, the City’s mission and the MOA with the USDOJ.
Interview and Select Additional Commissioners: Allow the City Council to fill vacant seats with qualified candidates. This may involve reopening the application period to receive additional applications from prospective candidates.
Establish a Commissioner Onboarding Process: Establish a checklist and process for onboarding new commissioners.
Provide Comprehensive Training for Commissioners: Ensuring all members are well-prepared to fulfill their duties effectively.
Develop Rules of Decorum: Establish guidelines for the City Council and all City Commissions, all commissioners, board members, and meeting participants to promote professionalism, respect, and effective discussion and collaboration.
Ensure Funding for APOC Training: Allocating resources to support training that equips the commission with the tools needed for success.

However, Monday, the police oversight commission claimed they did not have enough direction on the pause or what training would occur. Several of the commissioners also stated several assumptions of what the council was attempting–even claiming some didn’t want the commission to continue.

Chairperson Porshe Taylor explained the “pause” and what it looked like under a robust training – meaning they would pause or go down to one meeting per month so they could get trained and participate in training. She said in the background, she and Devin Williams would continue their work via ad-hoc committee while other commissioners continued with community engagement.

“I think that never got explained fully to the community so it may have bene received as if we were walking away from the work when reality we were trying to enhance the work,” shared Taylor. “In no way shape or form are we attempting to neglect the work or the feelings of the community.”

Commissioner Devin Williams said the work he does is “community led” and will continue fighting for the community.

Commissioner Treva Hadden said she would be voting “no” on the proposed pause saying she believed the work should continue uninterrupted to uphold its mission for oversight and accountability. She also wanted it to be run independent from “political pressures”.

“Its no secret that the mayor in office and certain councilmembers do not want the APOC to exist yet we have individuals here engaging in personal matters with our city council and mayor and another one who followed the mayors directive to oust former commissioner Leslie May,” said Hadden noting she did not join APOC for political ambitions. “I would like as many of you to continue without a pause, whether that means going to 1-time a month and getting trainings in between, I am fine with that, I just want us to continue implementing the critical changes… the APOC must continue to remain independent from political influence and committed to its mission of ensuring accountability and transparency in policing.”

Taylor requested the commission stay on topic and not attack fellow commissioners,

Commissioner Alicia Diana Lacey-Oha said she was not sitting on the commission for political gain such as councilmember or mayor, but rather for the best interest of Antioch.

“I am disturbed that people will put false narratives out there about the commissioners, that the mayor is talking in their ear, because I heard that. No, the only person talking in my ear is God. And when I come here, before I come here, I pray and I ask God for peace and I ask God I speak truth to power and when we did not have a meeting on March 10, I was disturbed and I am still disturbed…”

Taylor interjected, asking the commission to stay on topic.

Lacey-Oha was not for a pause or reduction in meetings and said she believed it needed to stay like the way it was. She called it critical they meet twice per month. She then said she would not vote for a pause saying they needed the appointments to happen.

“We need to get the those three commissioners appointed. We need to get those appointments situations then move forward. So instead of us having 1 meeting a month, which I am against, I say lets go on a pause, a temporary pause,” said Lacey-Oha.

Taylor shared that the interview process has started, however, the timeline was on the city council and they had no control over it.

Taylor then said if they would move towards a pause, the council would then have to answer several questions such as how long the pause would occur and what training they would be enrolled in during the pause.

“Our pause could be longer than what we all want and I want to make sure we agree to something like that, we have a structure in place,” explained Taylor adding the community is not interested in seeing a pause.

Williams called a pause put the commission in an “interesting spot” where the ordinance could be rewritten, people will choose to have more governance over the body of work and they should keep meeting due to the settlement agreement.

Taylor shared based off the last council meeting, they already directed staff to change the ordinance so nothing they were doing today would change that. Taylor said they have the choice to pause or not as well as move to 1 meeting per month.

Assistant City Attorney Kevin Kundinger clarified stated no decision has been made on the ordinance, only direction to staff.

“It’s safe to assume its not going to be in our best interest,” said Williams. “I don’t think its in their best interest to have us have enough weight on this commission that we can actually do what we need to do, operate the way we need to, do our work. There have been assumptions that there was a power to pause by the council. We are here to do the work, we should have our own ideas of doing, we should be our own independent body making recommendations to council. I am just assuming that the current council because they want to not overextend their reach publicly, but they might use that opportunity to do such.”

Lacey-Oha said if they continued, make sure they stick with meeting dates and times and stop cancelling meetings.

Taylor asked if the commission was okay moving to 1 meeting per month.

Lacey-Oha suggested it remained at twice per month.

Williams waffled saying if they moved to 1 meeting a month they needed a timeline on a pause, saying they needed structure until commissioner seats were filled.

Lacey-Oha asked about the interviews and where they were at with appointments which Taylor said she participated in the interviews but did not know where they were at with appointments.

“How long is it going to take the city council to make a selection because interviews I know started a week or two ago so are they going to drag it out as long as they want to?” asked Lacey-Oha.

Taylor again replied she didn’t know.

Lacey-Oha suggested they simply continue which Hadden agreed.

With Taylor confirming they were in agreement of no pause or reduction of meetings, Lacey-Oha again stated she did not trust a pause.

“I say lets move forward because we don’t know where the council is with interviews of the commissioners and that could drag on until the end of the year. We have to move forward and I thought about it, we cannot be put in a position where we do not meet at all. I feel it could be going in that direction if we go on this pause. It was stated that the pause would go until June of this year, I don’t trust that right now,” said Lacey-Oha.

With no changes to the meetings, there was no action taken by the commission.

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