Home Antioch Antioch City Council Ignores Police Chief Recommendation for Additional Sergeant Position

Antioch City Council Ignores Police Chief Recommendation for Additional Sergeant Position

by ECT

On Tuesday, the Antioch City Council failed to take action that would have added an additional police sergeant to the Antioch Police Department.

If approved, Antioch would have added its 10th sergeant to its 98-officer department. This specific sergeant was going to be utilized to oversee 7-staff members which duties included:

  • Community engagement officers to deal with some of the homeless, quality of life issues assign to work problem complaints
  • Deal with stolen vehicles within the city
  • Proactive details
  • Assist the two traffic officers
  • Traffic abatement program
  • Assist with blight

The “no action” came less than an hour after the council approved a contract that resulted in a $1.57 million increase to the city budget in a 3-0 vote.  This sergeant position would cost the city and additional $46,601 and would provide supervision to new hires and special units.

The police chief highlighted Tuesday that the city has added 16 officers, but have not added additional supervisor positions.

He noted the span of control is a concern based on staffing numbers as Antioch currently has 98-officers with 9-sergeants.

Meanwhile, the City of Brentwood has 62-officers with 10-sergeants while the City of Pittsburg has 81-officers with 10-sergeants.

Both Brentwood and Pittsburg has a ratio of 1-sergeant-to-6-officers, while Antioch is 1-sergeant to 10-officers.

Mayor Pro Tem Lamar Thorpe highlighted that in 2009, they had 12 police sergeants, where 3 of them were 3 sergeants who oversaw traffic, Community Action Team (CAT) and the School Resource Officer.

Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando replied that was correct, noting they did not have the CAT anymore, but have community engagement officers doing something completely different.

Thorpe then asked how big the unit was in 2009.

Cantando explained he did not have the exact number, but said it was a smaller unit in 2009 which the sergeant would oversee and that today it has more responsibility.

“Our staffing is low and our supervisors are required to take on more than one supervisorial responsibility,” said Cantando. “I know others don’t want us to compare ourselves to other cities, but that is a reality and our supervisors are second to none. When they are out there they are busy and have things going on. We have good officers, but they still need supervision.”

Thorpe then asked how much time a sergeant would spend behind a desk.

“Maybe 20% would be my guess,” said Cantando. “They are responding to complaints from residents and some of our quality of life issues.”

Cantando stated that a majority of what a sergeant does is work in the field not behind a desk.

Mayor Sean Wright asked how does this sergeant both increase accountability and increase productivity.

Cantando replied, “Obviously this individual will be out there monitoring what the officers are doing and what the civilian staff is doing. If there are issues in performance, that supervisor will address it. If there are issues that come up that management is not aware of, that supervisor will identify those areas that need to be corrected or addressed.  Its having an extra set of eyes and be a resource.”

He highlighted that the officers they brought in were young and learning.

Councilwoman Monica Wilson asked about adding more teams and growing those before asking for this position.

“No,” replied Cantando. “We have hired 16 already. Just hiring 1 (sergeant) looking at the span of control that is 1-supervisor-to-16-officers.  If we don’t bring on that sergeant, the current sergeants are going to have to continue absorbing the additional officers we are hiring. Keep in mind this sergeant will be working day-shift which is our busiest shift.”

He highlighted right now the span of control is very stretched out in the field.

Councilman Tony Tiscareno asked about safety and liability. He wanted to know how an experienced person as a sergeant could prevent liability and actually save the city some money.

“I definitely think it’s a reduction in liability exposure,” said Cantando. “To have a supervisor out there who is experienced making decisions making sure the decision the officer is making is right. Its difficult in the heat of the moment to make the right decision when you haven’t experienced it before and often times our young officers will look for a supervisor to assist them in making that call. I look forward to seeing our sergeants in the field showing up on officer calls and make sure the calls are being handled appropriately and getting a feel for the officers workload.”

Councilman Tiscareno made the motion to authorize an additional sergeant position after Cantando made note that the previous council, three who still sit on the dais requested traffic and officers to deal with homeless and quality of life issues–this is something Cantando has worked to accommodate

The motion did not get a second.

According to the city legal counsel, they stated that usually if anyone who voted against it, they can bring it back, but since there was no second, there is no further action that can be taken and can be brought back by staff at another time.

It’s unclear if Cantando will bring back the item at a future meeting.

After Cantando left the dais, there were no questions or discussion regarding the matter. It simply went without a second motion so no reasoning was even given why the request was ignored.

The public is now left to wonder what the rational was as to why the chiefs recommendation for a sergeant was ignored.

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7 comments

Marty Fernandez Jan 13, 2017 - 12:39 pm

The Chiefs recommendation for a Sargent was ignored because of the HUGE deficit the council had created just a few hours before by approving all of the labor MOU’s. By turning this down they placated those they pissed off earlier. Or thought they placated them. Not!

Larry Johnson Jan 13, 2017 - 2:23 pm

First of all its spelled sergeant.

Being ignored and dismissive like that without even a discussion shows the igornance and stupidity of this council all minus Tiscareno who made the motion. Voting on it and making a decision is what the council should have done. Either yes or no, not give it no action. It’s people like you and your idiotic ideology comments at the dais are of no use to trying to move Antioch forward. Go preach your nonsense to an audience who may take you seriously at the Antioch Herald. What huge deficit are you even referring to? Can you predict the future? Do you know how it will even impact the city? Its all a guess at this point.

When Antioch gets sued because an officer may be too aggressive or makes the wrong decision, blame the council, not the police department. Shame on Wright, Thorpe, Wilson, and Ogorchock.

ECT Jan 13, 2017 - 2:27 pm

@Larry

For the record, we like comments of all ideologies, sharing of opinions makes the world go round and how good solutions come about, not all one-sided.

Anon Too Jan 13, 2017 - 5:19 pm

Amen, ECT.

Sharing makes the world go round, but so much of it these days is just name calling and the like. Really makes me tune-out the site. If I wanted to read that kind of crud, I could look at Claycord.

Marty Fernandez Jan 13, 2017 - 5:40 pm

As a 50 year resident of Antioch and having gone over every city budget for the last 12 years there are things in the city budget the public should be aware of. Is being dismissive any different than an abstention on the mou’s? No. Both were political cop-outs.

Don Draper Jan 13, 2017 - 11:23 pm

@Larry Johnson. Your comment shows why people are up in arms against police. The city shouldn’t be held accountable for the misconduct of a cop. No other profession has that scapegoating for gross negligence except politicians and bankers. And that’s why the common man wants accountability for such.

Rich McEachin Jan 14, 2017 - 8:46 am

I don’t get it. The police department has a budget and since when does the council tell them how to spend it? I spent 26 years at APD and at no time did the council dictate how many Sgts we could have???? Idiotic stuff.

Comments are closed.