ANTIOCH — The Antioch Police Department, grappling with the fallout from a series of scandals, is striving to rebuild under new leadership. But, officials acknowledge, they remain a year away from reaching full staffing levels.
The ongoing effort to fill critical positions is crucial in stabilizing the department, which is now operating with less than half of its authorized officer capacity, following the termination or departures of several officers and others still on some sort of leave.
Interim Antioch Police Chief Brian Addington this week said the department only has 73 out of 115 authorized officers’ positions filled. Of those, 17 officers are on leave or working on modified duty, leaving just 56 officers from the top to the lower levels.
In an effort to stabilize leadership, the department requested the City Council authorize the hiring of an additional police captain position for the remainder of the fiscal year, which was unanimously approved on Tuesday night at the Council meeting.
The police department is budgeted for two captain positions — a rank just below the chief — but one of those captains was already out on long-term leave and expected to retire in the first quarter of next year. There is also a part-time interim captain whose tenure will end this December.
Addington, a former Pittsburg police chief, brought in the interim captain shortly after he was hired as Antioch’s interim police chief in February. At the time, one captain was on leave and Lt. Joe Vigil was serving as an acting captain while also filling in as chief when Steven Ford left and before Addington arrived.
Vigil was recently given a permanent captain position after a selection process that included an oral board where police chiefs from other cities as well as a separate board involving stakeholders such as the business community, school district and the public, assessed the candidates to fill the position.
Addington’s request to council was to “overhire (a captain) so that we can fill” the position of the captain out on leave who will be retiring early next year, he said.
“I hope we will have a new captain within the next 45-60 days,” the interim chief said. “That would be our goal, but keep in mind that anything can happen.”
Addington said the chosen candidate, who “comes with extensive law enforcement experience, including serving executive positions within the force,” will join the department after completing the standard hiring procedures, including a background check, polygraph test, and medical and psychological evaluations.
The new captain will be crucial in the department’s bid to rebuild itself as it is currently navigating multiple investigations by the state and federal Department of Justice into multiple officers’ alleged misconduct — including accusations of criminal conduct and racist, homophobic, and sexist text messages.
Addington said the department is working on improving community engagement, conducting training and addressing significant crime issues with its limited staffing.
Apart from the new captain, the department is expecting to hire six lateral officers, including a lieutenant, who have either graduated from the police academy or are working as enforcement officers. Those additions and another 10 officers expected to soon graduate from the police academy will bring the department to 90 officers.
“Assuming nobody else leaves or retires,” Addington said.
Source: www.mercurynews.com