ANTIOCH — The Antioch Police Department is grappling with the fallout from a series of scandals and attempting to reorganize itself under latest leadership, but officials admit it should be one other 12 months before it’s fully staffed.
Continued efforts to fill key positions are critical to stabilizing the Department, which is currently operating at lower than half its permitted capability following the termination or departure of several officers and officers who remain on leave.
Acting Antioch Police Chief Brian Addington said this week that the department has filled only 73 of 115 positions, with 17 officers on leave or on modified duty, leaving just 56 officers from the highest to the underside tier.
To stabilize leadership, the department asked the City Council for approval to rent an extra police captain for the rest of the fiscal 12 months. Approval was granted unanimously at Tuesday night's council meeting.
The police department has two captain positions – a rank just under chief of police – but one among those captains has already been on long-term leave and is predicted to retire in the primary quarter of next 12 months. There can also be a part-time interim captain whose term ends this December.
Addington, a former Pittsburg police chief, brought within the interim captain shortly after he was hired as Antioch's interim police chief in February. At the time, a captain was on leave and Lt. Joe Vigil was serving as acting captain, filling in for the chief position when Steven Ford left and before Addington arrived.
Vigil was recently assigned a everlasting position as captain. The selection process included an oral examination by police chiefs from other cities and a separate examination by stakeholders from the business community, the college district and the general public who evaluated candidates for the position.
Addington's request to the council was to “hire one more captain so that we can fill the position of the captain who is on leave and retiring early next year,” he said.
“I hope we will have a new captain within the next 45 to 60 days,” the interim chief said. “That would be our goal, but remember that anything can happen.”
Addington said the chosen candidate, who “has extensive experience in law enforcement, including serving in leadership positions within the force,” will join the department after going through standard hiring procedures, which include a background check, polygraph test, and medical and psychological evaluations.
The latest captain will play a critical role in rebuilding the department because it currently grapples with quite a few Justice Department and federal investigations into alleged misconduct by several officers – including allegations of criminal conduct and racist, homophobic and sexist text messages.
Addington said the department is working with its limited staff to enhance citizen engagement, conduct training and address significant crime problems.
In addition to the brand new captain, the department plans to rent six latest recruits, including a lieutenant, who’ve either graduated from the police academy or are working as law enforcement officers. With these latest hires and one other 10 officers who will soon graduate from the police academy, the department could have 90 officers.
“Assuming no one else leaves or retires,” Addington said.
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