Antioch City Council Set to Vote on Incentive Program to Help Recruit More Cops

On Tuesday, the Antioch City Council will vote on an employee referral and recruitment signing bonus program for the Antioch Police Department.

If approved, this would increase its incentive program to its employee referral program and recruitment signing bonus and incentive program for qualified lateral and entry level police officers. This is in response to low police staffing levels after an exodus of officers under the leadership of the Mayor Lamar Thorpe and City Council.

The police department was briefly fully staffed at 115 officers last year under police chief Tammany Brooks. The police department had 102 officers on the books and is allowed to hire up to 115 officers.

This item comes before the City Council after Mayor Lamar Thorpe held a press conference on April 4 in response to low police staffing levels and pressure put on by citizens regarding public safety. Thorpe announced a $40k signing bonus for new cops along with down-payment assistance.

At the time, the police department was down to just 78-active officers due to injury and various officers on administrative leave.

The item also returns after three Antioch City Council members (Mike Barbanica, Lori Ogorchock and Tamisha Torres-Walker) had asked the mayor several times to place an agenda item for hiring/retention of police over the past six months. Prior to the April meeting, Thorpe had not placed the item on any agenda.

Per the staff report, the police department is authorized for 115 sworn officers and is staffed with 105 officers—they did not provide active officer numbers, but did say they anticipate 10 upcoming separations within the next year.

During the April 26 council meeting, the council discussed the incentive programs, but opted to direct staff to work on the item and bring it back for further discussion.

Tuesdays Meeting:

At the August 9 meeting, the council will be asked to approve the resolution which the fiscal impact will be tied to the number of lateral and/or entry level applicants hired while the program is in effect—approximately $50k for laterals and $15k for entry level.

Current recruitment incentives in other police agencies include:

• City of Pittsburg offering $15k hiring bonus for laterals.
• City of Palo Alto offering $25k hiring bonus for laterals and $10k for academy graduates
• Alameda County Sheriff offering $12k hiring bonus and $10k for academy graduates
• City of Alameda offering $30k hiring bonus for lateral officers
• City of Brentwood – no bonus
• City of Oakley – no bonus

Recommended Program Details for Lateral Police Officers

To qualify for the onus and incentive program, the applicant must:

1. Be currently employed as a police officer with a California law enforcement agency
2. Have at least 2 years experience as a police officer and have successfully completed a probationary period
3. Possess a basic California POST certificate
4. If the application is a former Antioch Police Officer who wishes to return to the department, his/her separation of employment must be at least 18-months to qualify.The Bonus and Incentives will consist of the following:
5. Applicant will be allowed to carry over up to 200 hours of accrued sick leave from his/her department (Currently in place)
6. Prior law enforcement service seniority will be used to determine vacation accrual rate of the applicant (currently in place)
7. Automatic credit of 40 hours vacation upon employment (currently in place)
8. Signing Bonus of $40k with payments in the following increments:
   1. $20k – upon employment (increased incentive)
   2. $10k – upon successful completion of probation (increased incentive)
   3. $10k – upon three (3) years of service (increased incentive)
      (Any leave without pay would be discounted from total years of service for purposes of determining incremental, bonus payment dates for individual employees)
9. Any current Antioch employee who recruits a lateral officer will receive his/her choice of $1,000 or 20 hours of Comp Time upon laterals successful completion of the field training program (currently in place)

Recommended Program Details for Entry Level (Academy graduate and Recruit) Police Officers (open to all qualifying entry level officers hired from August 9, 2022 until August 8, 2023)

To qualify for the bonuses and incentives, the applicant must:

1. Successfully complete a Basic Police Academy and posses a basic POST certificate in the State of California.
2. Successfully complete the background and hiring process for the City of Antioch Police Department
3. Successfully complete the Field Training Program for the City of Antioch Police DepartmentThe bonuses and incentives will consist of the following:
4. Signing bonus of $15k with payments in the following increments:
   1. $5k – upon completion of Field Training Program (new incentive)
   2. $5k – upon successful completion of probation (new incentive)
   3. $5k – upon three (3) years of service (new incentive)

Antioch City Council Meeting

Tuesday, August 9
7:00 pm
Council Chambers (200 H Street, Antioch CA)
Full Agenda: Click Here