By Allen Payton

On December 14, 2015 after 30 years and six months with the Antioch Police Department, Captain Leonard Orman retired and the next day was given a farewell by fellow officers, APD staff and Police Chief Allan Cantando.

Born in Antioch, Orman worked at Silveira Lumber in during high school and while attending Los Medanos College. That’s when he got hired by the APD. He later completed his bachelor’s at St. Mary’s College in 1998.

When asked what was his most memorable case, he shared, “Probably the Scott Duval murder case, who killed his wife and said she was a missing person.”

“It was a lot of legwork and strategy because he was a highly intelligent guy,” Orman stated. “We finally got him to confess that he had killed his wife, cut her up and spread her around the Delta. It’s one of those cases you feel good about solving, with a true victim.”

Asked about his favorite memory, Orman spoke about the department.

“Above and beyond the police work and working cases, having been there on the command staff during the recession, which was really tough. The whole community suffered from that,” he said. “What people don’t recognize is a lot of organizations tend to implode during something like that. I’m really proud of the fact that didn’t happen. Lots of people left but, most hung in there, working overtime, including records, dispatch, management. There was nobody who wasn’t suffering. I wasn’t sure how much longer we could sustain that. Things are much better, now.”

“We did a ton of succession planning during that time,” Orman continued. “It was a group effort and the reality is that the day after I left, Diane Aguinaga got promoted. That usually doesn’t happen that smoothly. To leave like that and have it be fluid, that was the leadership, across the board. I left there with a smile on my face, feeling good with where the organization was. That was what made me feel the best.”

He served under five police chiefs.

“I will say that they were all great chiefs in their time. Antioch’s been really fortunate. To have chiefs who stay five years or longer is pretty good. It’s a lot of stability.”

He’s married with three children and when asked what he’s doing with all his free time, he said “I’m taking some time off. Doing a lot of traveling. More than my wife is used to, with her and our children. But, I plan on going back to work on some level.”

the attachments to this post:

Orman & Cantando hug

Orman walks the friendly corridor

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