Antioch Police Officers Association attorney calls new oversight commission “meaningless”, APOA leader willing to work with them
“They’ve been a massive failure…They have no credibility with anybody because they take on the role of being anti-police…It gives them a forum. They enjoy it. They get to grandstand.” – APOA attorney Mike Rains
“We look forward to the opportunity to work with the new Oversight Commission” – APOA VP Sgt. Loren Bledsoe
By Allen D. Payton
In response to the appointment of the seven members to the City of Antioch’s new Police Oversight Commission this past week, Antioch Police Officers Association attorney Mike Rains, who says his firm represents about 180 police associations throughout California, shared his extensive thoughts and concerns about the commission, the city’s government and police department.
“I didn’t know the people who they appointed. I guess, knowing it’s Antioch, they’re not going to appoint anyone who will be fair to police,” he stated. “It’s meaningless, ritualistic crap. That’s all you can say about this new commission.”
“I’ve been dealing with civilian review of police for 40 years. Antioch is no different. It can be effective and can work but only if those who sit in review of the police actions are fair and objective in evaluating the evidence. But what has happened, almost everywhere, is selecting people to the position who have an agenda,” Rains stated. “They think they sit on the panels to be advocates for their own personal agenda. They’ve been a massive failure.
They have no credibility with anybody because they take on the role of being anti-police.”
Says Oakland Police Commission Decisions Overruled Most of the Time
During his arguments in favor of forming the new commission, Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe mentioned the police commissions in San Francisco and Oakland as examples. Rains shared his experiences with one.
“Take a look at the Oakland Police Commission. They’re in complete disarray. Nobody pays attention to them. City officials overrule them most of the time,” he stated. “In the few cases the city officials succumb to the pressure, and discipline was imposed, we took them to arbitration, and it was overturned because it was unfair, and no arbitrators would uphold them.”
“Like in Berkely, they’ve had the same model,” Rains shared. “It gives them a forum. They enjoy it. They get to grandstand. It gives them their one day of glory in a hearing.”
Antioch’s Commission Only Advisory
But unlike the police commissions in the larger cities in the Bay Area and elsewhere, which are charter cities, because Antioch is a general law city, as previously reported, the Police Oversight Commission does not have the same powers and can only serve in an advisory role to the city council. Rains called it, “A meaningless process.”
“As if any of these folks know about police policy. It’s going to be their personal philosophy without any knowledge at all of what universally is accepted for police practice,” he continued. “I’m sure it’s going to be a joke. Everything coming out of Antioch is, right now.”
About the City Government & Mayor
Rains then turned his attention to how the city’s government is being operated.
“The city is severely mismanaged, and they keep running it into the ground,” he stated. “It’s indicative of what Mayor Thorpe has been doing. The mayor won’t let the police chief run the department and that’s how it’s been since Chief Ford was there.”
“Lamar Thorpe and his cronies, they can’t run it. That’s what’s causing the disfunction,” Rains continued. “They continue to do this crap and think these little ‘show and tells’ like this police commission thing will show they’re competent. But they’re incompetent. Instead of hiring competent department heads to run the city.”
“It’s sad for the people of Antioch,” stated Rains, who doesn’t’ live in the city. “They need to vote out all these people and elect people who are smart and care and don’t have a personal agenda that will dominate their decision-making.”
About the Police Department
He then spoke about the police department where his clients, the members of the APOA work.
“I feel sorry for the cops who work there, still,” Rains shared. “I think they should just leave en masse because of the lack of leadership at all levels in city hall. They need to let the police chief do his job.”
“My office represents over 180 police associations in the state and Antioch is the only one where the police chief has been deprived of running his own department,” he stated. “It’s being run by the city attorney, the mayor and possibly the acting city manager, and the human resources director. Why would anyone want to work there?”
When pointed out that the mayor claims 16 new sworn officers have been recruited to the department since the council approved the hiring incentive package Rains said, “They’re probably not going to be able to retain officers. I think officers, if they come there, it doesn’t take them long to see what’s going on, because the city is running it into the ground, and they want out. There are other departments that are competent with competent leadership and they’re going to go there.”
“The public needs to know the mayor and the city attorney, his ally, have done the people a disservice in the way they’ve run that place into the ground,” Rains added.
APOA Willing to Work With New Commission
APOA Vice President Sgt. Loren Bledsoe offered a different response to the formation of the commission and appointment of the seven commissioners. When asked for comment he wrote, “We look forward to the opportunity to work with the new Oversight Commission to develop strategies to improve public safety. As a strong believer in the concepts of 21st Century Policing, I look forward to this opportunity and hope it will only strengthen relationships with the community.”
Hernandez-Thorpe, Smith Offered Opportunity to Respond
An email was sent to both Hernandez-Thorpe and City Attorney Smith Saturday afternoon with a link to the article offering each the opportunity to respond to Rains’ claims. Neither had responded as of Saturday night.
UPDATE 1: Rains Commends APOA’s Comments
However, after reading the article, Rains shared additional comments saying, “After seeing the comments by Loren Bledsoe, I commend him for extending an olive branch to the new commission and indicating the POA’s desire to work in a cooperative fashion with them.”
“As the attorney for the association, I do not have the same optimistic view that a cooperative and harmonious relationship can be established,” Rains continued. “But if anybody can do it, Loren Bledsoe can on behalf of the association, And I commend him for his comment and his attempt to work things so that the commission can function objectively and effectively and make the lives of the citizens of Antioch better and to make the working lives of the cops in Antioch better, as well.”
Please check back later for any updates to this report.
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