Antioch Police Department Welcomes New Officers

The Antioch Police Department continues to grow where Monday they welcomed four new officers and 1 lateral officer to the Department during a ceremony.

During the ceremony, Chief Allan Cantando highlighted how important it is to bring police staffing levels up and how vital more boots on the ground are. The police department now has 95 officers which will be reported Thursday during the council meeting.

“It’s really a great problem to have 10-officers in a Field Training Program and it’s going to be one of those situations where we will have several two-person units on the street for three-to-four months and the public will notice the amount of officers we are bringing on,” said Cantando. “What it means for this department is the officers that are working so hard will have some relief.”

Mayor Wade Harper told the new officers that Antioch was a beautiful community and urged them to help bring out the beauty of community while work to change the culture of a few people who resort to gun violence and think its okay because it’s not okay and that is going to change. The Mayor provided his own “oath” to the officers.

Quick Bio on each new officer:

Matt Hirsch
Mr. Hirsch joined the army in 2003 where he was assigned to Bradley Linebacker crewmember as part of the air defense artillery. While in the army, he received the following awards:

• Army Accommodation – Third award
• Army Achievement – Second Award
• Army good Conduct Medal
• National Defense Service Medal
• Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
• Army Service Ribbon
• Korean Defense Service Medal
• German Schutzenschnur Badge

Matt was honorably discharged in 2007 where he joined the 191^st Army Band as a bagpiper and supply sergeant. He married his wife in 2007 and has three children.

Jonathan Adams
He graduated with a Civil Engineering in 2005 and worked as an engineer and manager in Highway Contraction Industry—even working on the Highway 4 expansion and widening. He has been married to his wife for 8-years where his wife is a police dispatcher. It was the stories his wife told him that made him want to change careers for more excitement than highway construction ever could.

Mark Moraga
Grew up in Antioch and graduated from Deer Valley High School and enlisted in the Marine Corp and basic rifleman where he deployed to Iraq three times and was honorably discharged in 2008. He worked as a trainer for the UFC Gym.

Randall Gragg
After graduating high school, he joined the Marine Infantry where he served as a fire team leader in a reserve unit.

Chief Cantando explained how it’s a wonderful time to bring on new blood into the police department.

“I believe these officers made the right decision in coming to this police department,” said Cantando. “It’s not just because of me; it’s because of the officers that work here. These men are going to be going into a Field Training Program that is going to be rigorous, it’s going to be difficult, but it will be rewarded. It’s going to be one of those programs where they will remember the rest of their lives because there will be some good and some bad because there are going to be challenges to it.”

He further said he hoped to see them complete the program so they can get out on the streets and start making a difference in the community.