Antioch Council to consider spending $500K for Violence Reduction Initiative, resolution to redefine Community Policing

Plus, continuing crisis response team, expanding ShotSpotter coverage area, park improvements, more; new city manager’s first meeting in role

By Allen D. Payton

During new City Manager Bessie Mae Scott’s first meeting in her position on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, the second to last one before the election, the Antioch City Council will consider spending $500K for a Violence Reduction Initiative, voting to spend  $2.1 million to extend the crisis response team through next October, accept a $740,000 federal award to expand the City’s ShotSpotter coverage areas; continue the police officer recruiting incentive program and expand it to dispatchers; spending $1,577,200 for Marchetti Park Renovations and close to $337,000 for the new Jacobsen Park playground; discuss revisions to the overnight camping ordinance and adopting a community policing resolution.

Violence Reduction Initiative

According to the City staff report for the proposed Violence Reduction Initiative (item 10), following the 15 shootings in September that resulted in the deaths of two young Antioch men, the council is being asked to adopt a resolution “Authorizing the payment of double-time for Antioch Police Officer’s Association Members for working extra shifts in designated areas of the City to reduce violence as directed by the Chief of Police or his/her designee; 2) Authorizing the City Manager to enter into agreements, approved as to form by the City Attorney’s Office, to pay regional municipalities $200 per hour to send officers to work shifts in designated areas to reduce violence; and 3) Allocating up to $500,000 to fund this violence reduction initiative.”

Police Officer & Dispatch Recruiting Incentive Program

The council will consider continuing the existing Police Officer Recruiting Incentive Program and introduce a $10,000 signing bonus for newly hired Police Dispatchers. (Item 1) They would be paid in two increments: $5,000 upon successful completion of the Dispatch Training Program and $5,000 upon successful completion of two (2) years of employment with the City of Antioch Police Department Dispatch Center. The council is also asked to authorize the necessary budget through June 30, 2025, of up to $350,000 to cover the program costs.

Community Policing Resolution Expands Definition, Scope

Under agenda item 3, at the request of District 1 Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker, the council will consider adopting a Community Policing resolution as the “Operant and Dominant Policing Philosophy of the City of Antioch.”

It would change and expand the traditional definition of community policing which is the system of allocating police officers to particular areas so that they become familiar with the local inhabitants. It also expands on the 2012 report by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services which defines community policing as “a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies that support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.”

Instead, the Whereas clause at the end of Torres-Walker’s draft resolution includes the following proposed language:

“Community policing is a comprehensive philosophy that guides policy and strategy aimed at achieving more effective and efficient crime control, reduced fear of crime, improved quality of life, and improved police services and police legitimacy through a proactive reliance on community resources that seeks to change crime causing conditions. This assumes a need for greater accountability of police, elected community leaders, and the community in general, along with greater public share in decision-making through the identification of service needs and priorities and a greater concern for civil rights and liberties.”

Meeting Details

The Council meeting inside the Council Chambers at City Hall, 200 H Street, begins with a Closed Session at 6:00 p.m. to discuss three legal matters including a lawsuit, a possible lawsuit and negotiations with Con Fire regarding property located at East 18th and Wilson Streets.

The regular meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. and can be viewed live on Comcast channel 24, AT&T U-verse channel 99, or live stream on the City’s website.

See the entire meeting agenda packet.


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