On Tuesday night, the Antioch City Council received a presentation from Police Chief Allan Cantando which highlighted that overall crime in the First Quarter of 2014 is up 2.8 % while violent crime is down 11.6%.
According to the statistics provided in the staff report that when compared to the same time period last year, Antioch reported no homicides while robbery was down 24.7%. Rape in Antioch has seen an increase by 200% jumping from 4 cases last year to 12 this year.
“I am happy that violent crime is down. Persons crimes are much lower than property,” said Cantando. “My focus is dealing with persons crimes.”
Cantando further explained that you will see that rape is up 200%, however, he explained that is because the FBI changed the definition and that what was once not considered rape was now considered into the statistic.
Burglary in Antioch has seen an increase of 3.1% with 365 cases in the first three months of the year—an increase of 11. Meanwhile theft is down by 2.2%. Auto theft saw a 28.7% increase with 269 total cases.
Between January through March, Antioch made a total of 988 arrests which was an increase of 10.3% from last year.
Antioch received a total of 18,767 calls for service which is down 1% from the same period last year while Priority 1 calls are down 10%.
The time a call was received to officer arrival continued to decrease for the third straight year in quarter 1. In 2012, the average receive to arrival was 11:04 minutes while today they are now at 10:12 minutes.
Traffic accidents with injury in Quarter 1 are up 52.6% with a total of 58 accidents with injury compared to 38 at this point last year. DUI (misdemeanor) is up 15.4% with 60 total incidents. Overall, traffic incidents are up 18.1%.
One change in the presentation is that the Police Department has removed the line-item entitled “allocated” staffing which was at 102-positions and have simply moved to “Authorized Sworn Positions”.
The chief highlighted that they currently do have 8 sworn vacancies, but they have three going into an upcoming academy and two for a May academy. He is hoping they will all be out of the academy by December if they graduate.
The chief also shared that his officers are doing proactive enforcement in the Deer Valley Plaza to help reduce the calls for that area before and after school. Efforts started just before spring break and will continue. He also shared they are working on reducing and enforcing panhandling on the offramps as well as medians throughout the city. There also meeting with Rivertown merchants to tackle the homeless problem.
Finally, the Chief touched on the three-homicides recently which falls under quarter 2 stats.
- D Street – have three in custody
- Hardy Nix – a robbery that went bad that is technically considered a homicide. He is reporting they have good leads on the other responsible’s involved.
- Country Hills – they are still early in the investigation and are not releasing any information.
In response to the Quarter 1 Police Statistics, the council was pleased with the effort of the department.
Councilman Tony Tiscareno stated that the police department was doing well.
“Other than the three homicides (in quarter 2), we have been doing quite well in reducing crime for the year. You guys are doing an excellent job,” said Tiscareno.
Mayor Wade Harper agreed stating that things are getting better because the complaints he gets the most are from panhandling and requests for speed bumps instead of violent crime.
“I am hearing from people that they are feeling better and that crime is coming down and the economy is improving. Everywhere I go, they say things are getting better,” said Harper.
He further explained how he was a cheerleader for Antioch and wants to see the good.
“I had to shut down another council member from another city who wants to always talk Antioch crime. I had to shut him down and tell him I am a cheerleader for Antioch,” said Harper.
Mayor Pro Tem Mary Rocha wanted to thank all the volunteers and shared how wonderful the VIP’s were.
“The amount of volunteers was impressive and the hours given. We have people only talking about the negative. We have a lot of positive and thank you to all the volunteers,” said Rocha.
23 comments
Did the mayor have his ears plugged during the chiefs presentation saying crmie was up? WTF
I think he has his ears plugged every time a citizen gets on that podium asking for help.
What an absolutely ridiculous statement. If crime was getting better, they would have no need for Measure C or 20 more cops. I believe the boys in blue are doing the best they can with what resources they have but this council is failing them with comments like that. The statistics show an overall increase without the three homicides included. It’s fantastic he is wanting to be a cheerleader, but you do not cheer when your team is losing.
I almost fell out of my chair reading what the Mayor said. Are you kidding me? He really needs to expand his circle of influence because he must be in a bubble.
Im sorry but where is it in Antioch that is getting better? Ive lived in my home now 7years and since the closing of Gst and the redirecting my area gone from no problems at all with crime, leaving windows open, doors unlocked, vehicles unlocked, knowing neighbors, safe in my own front yard(i live in a court mind you) totally secure feeling to living like this……
Car windows smshed out, vehicles stollen at 9pm, misc people wondering up court looking around late night, and early mornings, 10pm I watched a guy walk up my court trying every vehicle seeing if unlocked, got in one and tried to start it…but it didnt run anyway, husband confronted him n he just sat in car telling us he was waiting for his friend, kid mugged on corner at gunpoint, cars scoping out court all thru night, I Never have unlocked doors, open cars, My Big 120lb dogs are visable, Never answer my door if i dont know them, Hell i used to work til 2am come home n sit outfront watering my yard on hot nights….I wont do that now past sundown!! I look over my shoulder taking out trash in the daytime.
So Im wondering where the Hell is this improvement in Antioch! I live in a good area 7yrs ago, today its right there witha Sycamore type feeling!! And im not near there either. So please tell me where this is!!
Rape is only up 200%, but an overall good quarter if your not a female.
I’m glad you pointed that out. That is a very important fact, but Harper seems to think “things are getting better”
Do like we did and leave Antioch as fast and far away as you can. We left for SoCal and are happier and feel safer then we ever did in the 13 years we lived in that black infested ghetto town. And don’t cry racism because I am also black!
@Antioch is Toast
I’m Black also and I feel the exact same way. Interestingly, many idiots who peruse this site just throw the “racist” word around like nothing when in fact they are the hypocrites.
Reginald:
We moved to Antioch in 1999 and it was a great place to live. Relatively safe, quiet, a murder shocked everyone in the community, and it was rare, if ever, to hear a helicopter or police cars racing down Lone Tree day or night. When we left the area in 2012 you watched your back from the time you left home until you returned; section 8 tenants (majority black folks) terrorized every neighborhood; and gun shots can be heard and police sirens and helicopters can be seen and heard daily.
What happened to Antioch? Ghetto black folks from Richmond, Oakland, and San Fran moved to town and all hell broke loose! When the “hood” moves in, good people move out! Truth is truth! If you don’t like what I said, too bad, so sad!!!
Reginald. We moved to Antioch in ’99 and it was a great city. By the time we left in 2012 it had been overrun by ghetto “hoodrats” from Oakland, Richmond, and San Fran. When thugs move in, good people run out.
The liberals of Antioch voted in a Obama clone for Mayor and that’s what you got, an individual with no clue what he is doing. Good luck!! LOL
I’m not black, I’m not a racist either. It pains me to see what is happening to my hometown. It also pains me that too many people blame this ghetto crap on all blacks. Thanks for pointing out that this is mostly due to the influx of hood rats, not the fine black, white, Hispanic, etc people who have lived in Antioch for years!
Sorry, have lived here for over 20 years and do not see anything getting better, had a party on our block Friday night and well over 100 people took over our normally quite neighborhood. Underage drinking and drug use very loud music, street racing, people peeing in our front yards.
Police we’re first called at 6:00 p.m., after over 8 calls including a 911 call at 4:45 a.m. due to a large fight out front and a woman yelling for help!! This went on for over 11 hours before the ADP showed at 5:00 a.m. The landlord of this property has been notified several times of this non-stop party house. Others cities would be all over the owner of this property and his renters.
How about a fine to the owner and the renters, the ADP has better things to do than baby sit his party animals
@Dale– Unfortunately the city does not have the personnel, nor makes it a priority, to issue/collect fines or fees. If fines/fees were collected it would be a tremendous boon to the budget and there wouldn’t be the need to increase the local sales tax (Measure C).
Look at the yellow highlighted area and you will see that most of the numbers went down. The police chief explained the increase in the rape statistic was due to a change in reporting criteria by DOJ. Like the chief I am also happy that violent crime is down. Don’t give up on Antioch. Antioch is NOT “toast.” There are plenty of loving, caring, honorable people living here. If you don’t know where to go to find these type of quality people stop by one of the veteran’s centers or the senior center on 2nd street I can provide a long list if needed, but Im sure it is easy to get my point.
Instead of just looking at the highlighted yellow area, how about looking at the big picture and taking everything into consideration, Wade? This city is a very dangerous place to live in and everyone wants you to do your job as mayor and clean it up!
I have much respect for veterans but I don’t need to fill my day with just focusing on the shiny side of the coin. I think you need to open your eyes and take care of the dirt instead of sweeping it under the rug. And to add to it, it seems like there is far more dirt than the rug can cover in this city.
Excellent point Reginald. Funny how people put on blinders until they are face to face with a thug pointing a gun in their face or being robbed.
Wishful thinking won’t make the problems go away. I do agree with Wade that their are good people in Antioch. Problem is, they are the ones getting the heck out of town as fast as they can!! LOL. Stay at your own risk!
@Antioch is Toast
Thanks for the compliment. I highly doubt Wade will respond. He’s the type of fellow that prefers monologues as opposed to productive conversations. As long as the conversation ends the issue at is magically fixed.
Pathetic.
Just a suggestion. Instead of casting your vote for political correctness, take your time and choose a candidate with a solid moral foundation, strong & unwavering personal ethics, and a individual whose position on critical issues don’t change based on how much is donated to the campaign coffers.
Unfortunately, in the last mayoral election residents choose to bring a little bit of Washington DC to Antioch and the results are having devastating results on the community. It’s always more prudent to choose the most qualified candidate over racial guilt!!!!!
I couldn’t have said it better. Truly excellent post!
I agree with all of you except the lame comment from Mr. Harper. The 200% figure was because the criteria had been changed by the FBI according to the Chief.
To clarify, the rape figure in the report of 200% was because the FBI changed the criteria
Can you say recall !!! get his a– out. time get the hell out of this rat hole of a city. moved here in 96 nice then now I think I’ll moved to richmond same crime better weather
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