18 Nov Antioch Police to Get Extra Pay for Extra Work in Problem Areas

(Image courtesy of Antioch Police Department via Bay City News)

By Samantha Kennedy

Antioch Police Department officers will be paid double for working extra shifts as part of an effort to reduce a recent surge in violence. 

The Antioch City Council at its Nov. 12 meeting approved a resolution that will pay community service officers, dispatch personnel, sergeants, corporals and officers twice their regular pay if they work extra shifts in designated areas. 

It’s part of a $500,000 violence reduction initiative that was previously approved by the council in October. 

“Current APD employees bring invaluable familiarity with the City’s unique problem areas, which is crucial for preemptively addressing violent incidents,” interim Police Capt. Patrick Wentz wrote in the staff report. “Their collective experience and knowledge position them as a critical resource for enacting crime-reduction strategies tailored explicitly to Antioch’s challenges.”

Much of those recent challenges have been due to gun violence in the Sycamore corridor that began after the Sept. 2 death of Elijah Scales on Peppertree Way. More than 15 shootings have happened since, including what police called a “rolling gun battle” involving multiple people on Election Day. 

Mayor-elect Ron Bernal visited the area ahead of the meeting and said the neighborhood needed to be a priority, according to CBS News.

“Every morning when we wake up, we need to ask ourselves, ‘How is Sycamore Square?’ ” Bernal reportedly said. “How is the Sycamore neighborhood doing?”

Officers in the understaffed department already work 7.5 hours of mandatory overtime a month, according to the report, and council members also approved enlisting the help of outside agencies at the beginning of October. 

Still, the department says it “cannot solely rely on the help of outside agencies to provide adequate coverage” and “immediate action is essential to bridge current resource gaps.” 

Staffing was greatly reduced in large part due to a racist texting scandal that saw around half of the department suspended for their involvement. But staffing levels are “gradually increasing,” according to the department. 

The double-time proposal was first brought to council members at the Oct. 8 meeting alongside the $500,000 allocation but comments from them and the public postponed the decision because of concerns of overworking officers and requests for further information. 

The previous allocation includes funding to bring in outside agencies and pay them $200 per hour to use their officers in designated areas of Antioch. 

The resolution passed in a 4-0 vote with council member Michael Barbanica, a former police lieutenant, absent. 

The next Antioch City Council meeting is Nov. 26.