26 Apr Antioch’s Notorious Sycamore Corridor to Get a Police Station

“I believe in community-based violence prevention strategies and reimagining public safety … and I also believe when the residents in that corridor tell me they want this substation,” said Antioch council member Tamisha Torres-Walker, left, who represents District 1, in which the Sycamore Corridor is found. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

It’s not an answer to the more than 2,500 calls for police service over the last year. It won’t change the dozen-plus gang-related shootings last fall. It won’t even be staffed constantly. But, for the Sycamore corridor, it’s a start.

Antioch officials on Tuesday made good on a years-long call to increase safety and community trust along the Sycamore corridor by approving an 18-month police substation at the Sycamore Square Shopping Center.

“People don’t want to serve you unless they feel safe. We have to create those conditions,” said council member Tamisha Torres-Walker, who represents the area and brought the item forward. “This will not just help the residents of Sycamore. This will help the city of Antioch as a whole.”

The Sycamore corridor, located in District 1, has been notorious for gun violence. Last fall, over a dozen gang-related shootings in the area prompted then-Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe to call for help — from the California Highway Patrol, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office and $500,000 for outside officer patrols.

“It’s not to increase arrests; it’s not even meant to displace violence,” said Torres-Walker, “but, when in a city that has for years only used policing and not other strategies to address violence, we have already displaced violence in this city.”

Council members united in a 4-0 vote, with Mayor Ron Bernal absent, to approve the substation’s lease at 1084 Sycamore Drive and bring back metrics to measure the facility’s success at a future meeting.

The lease is set to begin July 1, totaling $33,127.50 and ending on Dec. 31, 2026.

Torres-Walker, who has pushed for community-based violence prevention and investment in the quality of life for neighborhoods, said it was also a challenge for her to consider a substation.

“There had to be a balance of values for me, but I wasn’t elected to serve myself,” she said. “I believe in community-based violence prevention strategies and reimagining public safety … and I also believe when the residents in that corridor tell me they want this substation.”

Residents who supported the substation said they hoped the facility would help to remedy a lack of resources and broken community trust in the area.

“You know what I always knew about ‘those types’ of people? They’re just like you,” said one faith leader.“They want to live … to eat … have their kids grow up and be safe. We don’t blame the circumstances on the people because they’re growing up in circumstances where they have been ignored.”

Despite Bernal’s absence, the mayor made public safety, with a focus on the Sycamore corridor, a top priority during his campaign. Doing so, he told CBS, involves being consistent and “building community.”

Bernal and Torres-Walker say part of building community will mean holding the Homeowners Association, which reportedly left their office for a safer area, accountable.

“They left so staff could be safe, but they left the community in disarray,” said Torres-Walker. “There needs to be conversations with the HOA and what is their responsibility to keep Lemontree, Peppertree, all of those streets across the street safe?”

Council member Monica Wilson said some who opposed the facility were not part of Antioch’s community and didn’t realize that residents had been asking Torres-Walker for these services.

Council member Don Freitas said he was among those who had reservations with the substation and wanted to “do this one correctly.” He suggested coming up with metrics to evaluate the success of the substation.

Torres-Walker, who agreed to bringing metrics back, said her previous experience at a substation in Richmond helped her understand their benefits.

“Not one substation automatically produced mass arrests and incarceration,” she said. “What they did do is provide a space in the interim for nonprofits to engage with the community that needed the opportunity and the services to change their lives and not be involved in violence.”

She likened the changes the Antioch Police Department was undergoing to those the Richmond Police Department saw under then-Police Chief Chris Magnus.

“There needed to be change in the department,” she said, calling APD and RPD’s shift “a renaissance.” “It provided an opportunity for the police department to shore up those community relations that have been long broken.”

A key part of Antioch’s changes had to begin with the appointment of a permanent police chief, officials agreed. Joe Vigil, who has earned praise during his time as interim chief, was appointed to the position last week.

The lease comes months after Antioch voters ousted Hernandez-Thorpe, shifting away from a progressive majority to a more conservative council. Much of that shift had to do with voters’ criticisms of public safety in the city, which has headlines for retail thefts and shootings.

The change created a clear divide between the newly elected Bernal, Rocha, Freitas and Torres-Walker and Wilson on some issues. Freitas, for example, called for the resignation of a Black police commissioner for using the n-word, as the Torres-Walker-supported commissioner said it was a “cultural misunderstanding,” and debates ensued over the independence of the police commission.

But, in the case of the Sycamore corridor, the stars aligned. For one night, at least.