From APD Facebook page

On Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 28, 2017 an alert citizen spotted an APD motorcycle officer in the area of Empire Ave. and Neroly Rd. and alerted him to suspicious people seen walking away from a vehicle in the area of Laurel Rd. and the SR-4 Bypass. Ofc. Johnsen saw three people walking on Laurel Rd., now in the City of Oakley, and when he reached the car the citizen was concerned about, he quickly learned it had been reported as stolen to the Antioch Police yesterday afternoon.

Ofc. Johnsen was able to relocate the subjects he had seen moments earlier, and the investigation led to all three (a 35-year-old male from Antioch, a 21-year-old male from Antioch, and a 20-year-old female from Brentwood) being arrested for vehicle theft.

This is another example of an alert and concerned citizen taking the time to report suspicious activity to the police, and it not only led to arrests being made, but also helped the victim of this crime have their vehicle returned to them in just over a day’s time! Thanks to not only this person, but everyone that helps us in our daily responses to calls from the public. We rely on you, and without you, many of these incidents would go undetected!

 

From APD Facebook page

Early Monday afternoon, Nov. 27, 2017 the Antioch Police Department received calls regarding a male that was seen in the water in the area of the river north of the Antioch Lumber building. The calls advised that the person was yelling for help, and appeared in distress.

Officers quickly arrived in the area, and found that the man (a 25-year-old Antioch man), was several hundred feet out from shore and appeared in need of assistance. Law enforcement water support wasn’t immediately available, so officers responded to the Antioch Marina, and contacted Harbormaster James Pflueger who immediately assisted with the use of his boat.

The man was successfully rescued from his predicament, and was transported to a local hospital for treatment of hypothermia as the water temperature was less than 60 degrees. The circumstances surrounding how the man ended up in the water remain under investigation, but a happy ending nonetheless to quite a scary situation.

According to Sgt. Dee described the man as Hispanic, shirtless and “5150”, a reference to a section of California state law which means he was a danger to himself and others.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

 

An effort to increase number of sworn from current 96 to 103 budgeted and 111 promised

By Allen Payton

At their meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 28 the Antioch City Council will consider offering signing bonuses of $10,000 each, to help attract and recruit police officers from other agencies to come to work for the Antioch Police Department. It is part of a proposed employee referral and recruitment program that includes signing bonus/incentives for qualified lateral police officers. The effort is expected to help increase sooner the number of sworn officers, which has been a struggle since the Measure C half-cent sales tax was placed on the ballot and passed in 2013. Police recruiting bonuses ACC112817 Item 9

Currently the city has 96 sworn officers on the force, just seven more than the 89 when Measure C was placed on the ballot in 2013. The staff report states that since Measure C passed, “forty-nine (49) sworn officers have been hired. During that same period however, thirty-five (35) sworn officers have separated employment, resulting in only a net gain of fourteen (14) sworn officers.” However, seven of the positions were funded in the 2013-14 budget, approved before the sales tax measure passed and collection of the additional revenues began.

The mayor and council at that time stated there were 89 sworn officers on the force and promised to hire 22 additional sworn officers immediately if voters passed Measure C to increase the total number of sworn officers to 111. However, the city budget only includes a total of 103 sworn officers in this fiscal year’s budget and 104 in next year’s.

The staff report explains that the “The fiscal impact will be determined solely by the number of lateral applicants hired while the program is in effect. Per lateral officer, the fiscal impact is estimated to be $23,253. This assumes the lateral officer is hired at Step E and is eligible to take

advantage of the full incentive package. However, financial incentives are distributed in three separate increments over the course of three years, and leave incentives would be taken in much smaller increments (if at all). lt is believed most, if not all, of the costs would be covered through salary savings from vacancies.”

The report further explains the reason for the proposed incentives. “The recruitment of qualified lateral applicants for the position of police officer is becoming increasingly difficult, as the job market is very open and competitive. Recently, the department scheduled interviews for five lateral officers from four different agencies, and none of them showed up. Additionally, we had two recent lateral hires (from Oakland PD) that quit and returned back to their agency in large part due to financial incentives Oakland offered for them to return. Many departments have adopted recruitment incentives to attract qualified laterals,” including Palo Alto, Modesto, Fairfield and BART. Incentives offered by those department range in size from $10,000 to $25,000.

The matter is the final item on the agenda for council meeting which begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, located at W. Third, W. Second and H Streets in downtown. You can also watch it live on local cable access channel 24 or livestreaming on the city’s website at http://www.ci.antioch.ca.us/CityGov/citycouncilmeetings.htm.

From the Antioch Police Department Facebook posted page on Monday, November 27, 2017

Please say hello to the newest member of the Antioch PD family, Officer Morteza Amiri. Pictured here with Chief Tammany Brooks, Morteza was sworn in today. He is a lateral officer from the Brentwood Police Department, and comes to us with three years of experience.

Morteza was born and raised in the Bay Area, and attended high school in Dublin. After high school, Morteza attended Los Positas College before working as a Loss Prevention Agent for both Old Navy and Target in Antioch.

Morteza is an Antioch homeowner, and is excited to be able to work with the community and his peers to combat crime in Antioch. He currently attends California Coast University, and is pursuing his Bachelor’s degree.

When he is not working, Morteza can be found hiking with his 18-month-old Belgian Malinois. He also enjoys traveling and trying different types of food.

A fun fact about Officer Amiri is that because he has always admired the Antioch Police Department, he would sometimes switch his radio from the Brentwood radio channel and accidentally answer up to respond to the Antioch PD calls…….guess it was meant to be!

Congratulations Morteza and welcome!

By Allen Payton, Publisher

The City of Antioch’s 2016-2017 Measure C Annual Status Report was recently received in the mail and I took the time to read it. Unfortunately, what I discovered was it provides false information to the public. Now, I don’t blame city staff. They’re merely reporting and acting on the direction of the city council. But, it’s the direction of the past mayor and city council which chose to play games and manipulate the police staffing numbers and budget to make things look better than they really are. So, it’s time the new mayor, mayor pro tem and council gave new direction to the city staff to use the correct and honest figures for Measure C.

Mayor and Council Promised 22 More Sworn Officers

Here are the facts, again. In the ballot argument for Measure C, signed by then-Mayor Wade Harper and the rest of the city council at that time, which included current Council Members Monica Wilson and Tony Tiscareno, it stated:

“A Yes on Measure C will allow us to immediately hire 22 new police officers, decreasing the time it takes to respond to 911 calls. It will also provide funds to reduce the number of gang-related homicides, assaults and robberies.

Our police force has dwindled from 126 officers four years ago to only 89 today. 911 response times have increased and violent crime is up 30%. We feel unsafe in our homes and are in constant fear of becoming victims of crime.”

We Had 89 Sworn Officers

The ballot argument concluded with and was signed by the following:

“Antioch needs funds now to lower crime and to cleanup dilapidated properties. Your voting Yes on Measure C will give us the financial boost we need to turn Antioch around. Thank you.

Sergeant Tom Fuhrmann, President, Antioch Police Officers’ Association; Brittney Gougeon, Founder, Take Back Antioch; Joyann Motts, President, Antioch Unified School Board; Hans Ho, Past Chair, Antioch Crime Prevention Commission/ Neighborhood Watch Coordinator; Antioch City Council; Wade Harper, Mayor of Antioch/ Retired Police Lieutenant”

They Owed Us 111 Total Sworn Officers

My math tells me that would bring the total to 111 sworn officers (89 + 22). The ballot was written and submitted in either July or August 2013 in time for the sample ballots to be printed and mailed to the voters. So we had 89 sworn officers on the force being paid for out of the budget before the funds from Measure C began to be collected.

Please read the entire ballot statement and arguments, here – http://www.smartvoter.org/2013/11/05/ca/cc/meas/C/.

They Chose to Use 82 Sworn Officers as the Base, Instead

However, by the time Measure C passed in November, the Antioch Police Department had lost seven more officers reducing the force to just 82 sworn officers. So, that was the figure the mayor and council at that time voted and gave direction to city staff to use as the base figure. Adding 22 more officers only gives we the taxpaying and voting public a total of 104 sworn officers – which is the figure the council and staff have accounted for in next year’s budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year.

That was wrong and dishonest of them to do, because the budget already included enough for 89 sworn officers and Measure C is supposed to pay for 22 “new officers” according to the ballot argument.

Council Member Lori Ogorchock was elected in November 2014 and Mayor Sean Wright and Mayor Pro Tem Lamar Thorpe were elected last November long after Measure C passed. But they all inherited the commitments and promises of the past council to give us the 22 additional officers from Measure C, on top of the 89 we had at the time the ballot argument was written and signed, and “immediately.”

Past Police Chief Allan Cantando and current Chief Tammany Brooks have said they’ve been doing everything they can to continue to add officers to the force and have hired 49 sworn police officers since the passage of Measure C, according to Brooks’ portion of the report. However, due to past council actions including the very rich 3% at age 50 retirement benefit – which was fortunately changed in 2012 for new hires – and due to other attrition, the department has lost 35 sworn officers during that time. That brings the total number of sworn officers to just 96. That was news to me as I was under the impression we had reached and remained at the 100-officer level.

They Owe Use 15 More Sworn Police Officers

That’s just seven more officers than the city had in 2013 when Measure C was placed on the ballot. Here we are over four years later, certainly not the “immediately” as the then-mayor and council promised us. The current council owes us another 15 sworn officers paid for by Measure C funds based on simple math of 111 – 96 = 15.

Brook’s comment that “our net gain is currently 14,” is only correct when comparing it to what has happened “Since the passage of Measure C in 2013,” as the first sentence of his comments stated. It’s not correct when comparing that figure to how many officers we were actually promised if we passed Measure C.

Only seven of those 14 sworn officers are supposed to be paid for from Measure C funds and the fact is the city has only gained a net seven additional officers, not 14 from the revenue generated by the extra half-cent sales tax in Antioch.

It all goes back to the number of officers the budget was paying for at the time the ballot argument was written and signed, and the promise made which was 89.

The worst part is, even before they have given us the 22 additional officers, the previous mayor and council, of which Ogorchock was a part, voted unanimously to give pay raises to the police and the rest of the city staff totaling $9.2 million in contracts that run one year beyond the sunset of Measure C. (They did so on Election Night, by the way after it was too late for the voters to know what was in the pay and benefits packages before they voted). The additional half-cent sales tax only lasts until 2020. The contracts run through 2021. (See related articles, here and here)

Now They’re Asking for a One-Cent Sales Tax

Yet, now city staff is already asking for we the people to consider voting, not for a renewal of the half-cent sales tax, but an increase to a one-cent sales tax when Measure C expires. Among other questions about city services and issues facing our community, a recent phone survey, approved  by City Manager Ron Bernal and paid for out of his discretionary funds, asked residents if we would support that. The audacity to even us ask to consider supporting a renewal of the half-cent sales tax, much less doubling it, before fulfilling the promise and commitment made to we the people under Measure C and having spent $9.2 million on pay raises, seriously had me stunned.

They’ve Only Budgeted for 104 Sworn Officers

The last part of Chief Brooks final sentence in the report is correct: “As of June 30, 2017, $2,947,361 remains unspent pending allocation to enhancing Police and Code Enforcement services, as promised to voters.” At least he recognizes that a promise was made to the voters. But, I challenge the amount remaining unspent, since that figure should be much higher if the proper figure of 111 sworn officers was accounted for, not 103 currently and 104 in next year’s budget.

We just need the city council to remember what that promise actually was – 22 additional officers on top of the 89 sworn we already had – and ensure we are provided the 111 sworn officers Antioch needs to fight and bring down crime, which is supposed to be their highest priority. It’s time to put our money where their mouths are.

One Promise Broken, Another Can Still Be Kept

Obviously, they haven’t been able to keep the part of the promise of hiring the 22 additional officers “immediately”. But, the current city council can fulfill the promise of 111 total sworn officers as we are due, by giving new direction to staff to use the correct, honest figure of 89 sworn officers as the base not 82.

What’s that old saying – figures lie and liars figure? The figure of 82 sworn officers the city has been using since 2013 is just plain dishonest. I expect Mayor Wright, Mayor Pro Tem Thorpe and Council Member Ogorchock who were not part of the council that gave that misdirection to staff, to correct this and give new direction using 89 as the base figure. I would also hope that Council Members Wilson and Tiscareno would see the error of their ways and join them in correcting it.

We get enough of this statistical and fiscal game playing with our government and our money from Washington, DC and Sacramento, already. It should never be allowed at the local level. If the council and staff ever hope to see Measure C renewed, or much less doubled – which I seriously doubt will be supported (and we’ll see once the results of the recent survey are made public) – the council needs to correct this. Also, if Sgt. Tom Fuhrmann, Joy Motts and Hans Ho want to maintain their integrity, they will make sure the council does so, because they added their names and reputations to the ballot argument in which the promises were made to help ensure Measure C’s passage. So they all made that same promise.

Reopen Employee Contracts to Ensure Funding for 111 Officers

We the people need the council to not only start using the correct base of 89 sworn officer, we need one of the three current council members who voted for the pay raises last year to join Wright and Thorpe in reopening and renegotiating the city employee contracts. That is the only way to ensure there is enough money in the budget to pay for the 111 sworn officers we were promised.

Unfortunately, that still won’t get us to the 1.2 officers per 1,000 population level of 132 sworn police officers that we’ve been needing for the past 20 years. But, it will have to do, for now.

And the time to face the facts, take responsible action, be honest with we the people and address and fix these matters is now.

After a months-long investigation into a gang in East Contra Costa County that was allegedly transferring firearms illegally, law enforcement officers on Wednesday executed eight search warrants in Pittsburg, Antioch, and Bay Point.

The investigation was led by CASE (Contra Costa County Anti-Violence Support Effort). During the operation, CASE was assisted by Special Agents from the California Department of Justice (Burea…u of Firearms), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Marshals, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff, California Highway Patrol, Pittsburg Police Department, Walnut Creek Police Department, Richmond Police Department and Probation Officers from the Contra Costa County Probation Department.

A total of nine people were arrested and booked into the Martinez Detention Facility. They are being held on numerous charges that include conspiracy, gang and narcotics violations, and weapons’ charges including felon in possession of a firearm, possession of an assault rife, prohibited person in possession of a firearm, and illegal transfer of a firearm.

During searches of the locations, law enforcement officers seized one AK-47 style assault rifle, three handguns, high capacity magazines, cocaine, marijuana, and pills.

The CASE Team is a joint effort by the Office of the Sheriff, California Department of Justice, California Highway Patrol, Pittsburg Police Department and Walnut Creek Police Department. CASE was created in November 2011 as a collaborative effort to reduce violent crimes in Contra Costa, especially those related to illegal firearms.

By Allen Payton

According to eyewitnesses about 10 or 12 police vehicles had another car stopped on Laurel Road near the Highway 4 offramp at about 8:15 p.m. Sunday night. It turned to be the end of a high-speed police pursuit of a stolen vehicle.

“It was a vehicle that got carjacked last night in Oakley,” said Oakley Police Sgt. Rick Grubaugh,

“Today he was driving through Pittsburg on Highway 4 eastbound,” he continued. “Pittsburg PD began pursuing it. The vehicle took the Laurel Road offramp and that’s where the vehicle pursuit ended, and we took the guy into custody.”

It was a high-speed pursuit on Hwy 4, Grubaugh confirmed.

Oakley PD was there near the Laurel Road offramp waiting for the driver, he explained.

The “30-year-old black male” is “from somewhere on the west end of the county” and “is fine and in custody,” Grubaugh added.

Armed robbery of BAC Bank branch; Antioch Police assist in arrests.

From Brentwood Police Facebook page

On November 9, 2017, at approximately 12:57 p.m., Brentwood officers responded to a “hold up” alarm at BAC Community Bank located at 740 First Street. The suspect, described as a light skinned male, in his 30’s, 6-foot, 180 lbs., produced a dark colored handgun and demanded cash, receiving an undisclosed amount. The suspect fled the bank on foot last seen running westbound across First Street towards Diablo Alley. Nobody was injured during the robbery.

During the course of the investigation, Brentwood officers and investigators quickly developed a solid lead that ultimately led to the arrest of three suspects.

Surveillance footage and good witness statements confirmed there was more than one suspect involved. The surveillance footage and statements offered a detailed description of the suspects and their getaway vehicle.

Approximately three hours after the robbery, Antioch patrol officers located the vehicle on a surface street and detained all three suspects without incident. Evidence from the robbery was recovered during the investigation including an amount of cash taken during the robbery.

The suspects were identified as:

1. Donte Davis, 35-year old, male, Clearlake, CA resident – This suspect entered the bank and committed the robbery.
2. Eddie Starks, 29-year old, Pittsburg resident.
3. Maquetta Sanders, 39-year-old, Antioch resident.

Davis, Starks and Sanders were booked into the Martinez Detention Facility charged with First Degree armed robbery and Conspiracy. Starks and Sanders were also charged with being Accessories in the robbery, all felony charges.

The Brentwood Police Department would like to extend a special thanks to the witnesses involved in this case as well as the Antioch officers involved in the apprehension.

Anyone with information related to this investigation is asked to contact Detective Head at 925-809-7734 during regular business hours or 925-809-7911 after 5 p.m. Callers can remain anonymous.