21 Aug Richmond Approves Oversight Changes Amid Outcry Over Police Killing

Anabell Montes stands at the Richmond City Council meeting Tuesday, about two weeks after Richmond Police shot her cousin Angel Montaño to death on Aug. 4.

Story and photos by Denis Perez-Bravo

Anabell Montes stood in Richmond City Council chambers Tuesday with tears on her cheeks and a homemade sign in her hands, wearing a sweatshirt bearing the message “In Loving Memory Angel Montaño” and a photo of her cousin, a former Marine, in uniform. 

On Aug. 4, Richmond Police officers Nicholas Remick and Colton Stocking shot Montaño an undisclosed number of times, killing him, after a 911 call reported an armed man experiencing a mental health crisis in his home. He was 27 years old.

At the first council meeting since the shooting, Community Police Review Commission Chair Carmen Martinez presented recommendations on how the commission could better handle complaints and data. The Richmond City Council unanimously approved the recommendations.

Montes was joined by cousins and friends holding signs as speakers went up in support. Many carried flyers that read, “Justice for Angel Montaño” in English and Spanish.

“Richmond PD claimed transparency, but true transparency doesn’t come with redacted files and footage that ends at the first bullet,” Richmond resident Jesus Pedraza said during public comment.

The department released bodycam footage of Montaño’s killing that cuts off right after the shooting begins.

“Not once did Richmond PD admit how many shots were fired,” Pedraza said. “We demand the full release of footage, unedited, unmanipulated — the truth in its entirety.”

Pedraza urged the council to pass the CPRC’s recommendations, which were extending the deadline to file complaints, changing the misconduct review standard, expanding the scope of review, allowing anonymous complaints and redacting names, subpoena power for evidence, adding an annual public report, and publishing non-confidential records online.

The approved recommendations will now be litigated in a meet and confer with the city attorney, the Richmond Police Officer’s Association and the Richmond Police Management Association.

The Richmond Police Department, however, raised concerns about the proposed changes. 

Lt. Donald Patchin, the department’s chief of staff, said in an email to the Pulse that adopting the seven proposals “as written will overwhelm existing resources, potentially conflict with the Police Officer Bill of Rights, and risk unintended consequences that undermine both accountability and fairness.”

He added that while the department supports transparency, changes must be realistic given current staffing shortages and legal constraints.

“The Richmond Police Department supports transparency and accountability,” Patchin said. “However, any changes must comply with state law, respect officers’ due process, and be realistically achievable.”

Richmond Police Officers Association President Ben Therriault said police are often left to handle crises that arise out of mental health issues that should have been addressed sooner.

“It’s not the police; it is our state’s broken mental health system,” he said in a public comment during the City Council meeting. “Officers are forced into situations that should have been prevented long before a 911 call.”

Therriault said state laws prevent authorities from intervening until an individual poses a threat to themselves or others.

“And the inevitable happens — a crisis that ends with police intervention,” he said.

But Pedraza and the dozens of others that spoke said Montaño’s death was not just an unfortunate event. They say it was preventable and should never have happened.

“This was murder,” Pedraza said.

He described Montaño, a friend since middle school, as someone who could light up a room. He and many others are now calling for the removal of Remick and Stocking.

“Not rewarded with paid leave,” Pedraza said. “(They) took our brother’s life without exhausting non-lethal options.”

According to Richmond Police, on the day of Montaño’s death, officers arrived on scene and waited outside the apartment for another officer to arrive with a non-lethal 40mm ballistic weapon. But as dispatchers continued to communicate with Montaño’s brother, the scene became increasingly chaotic.

“He just picked up a second knife,” said a dispatcher to the officers through a radio in one scene of the Richmond Police video breakdown of the events, shared on the KCRT TV YouTube page.

At that same time, onscreen text indicates that yelling was heard from the apartment.

Remick and Stocking, alongside a third officer with a ballistic shield, approached the apartment.

Remick, pushing the already ajar door wide open with his rifle, saw Montaño rush out.

Officers yelled, “Stop.”

Stocking’s body camera shows Remick taking the first shot. Remick quickly raises his gun and shoots.

Controversy now surrounds Remick. The Aug. 4 incident was his second deadly officer-involved shooting in six months.

In February, Remick and Officer Jessica Khalil shot and killed 51-year-old José Mendez-Rios In Richmond after they responded to a probation-related warrant near the railroad tracks. Officers said they thought Mendez-Rios had a knife when he charged at them. The object turned out to be a knife sheath. The California Department of Justice is still investigating the shooting. According to KQED, Remick is also named in multiple lawsuits alleging police misconduct dating back to 2024.

Montes said Remick should never have been allowed to return to duty after the first shooting.

“He should have never been out on the streets,” she said. “You shouldn’t have (ever) been allowed to go back on the job.”

Patchin told the Pulse that California law requires de-escalation and crisis response training starting in the academy and then officers receiving ongoing instruction every two years.

Richmond police have been involved in three officer-involved shootings over the past five years, according to Patchin. No policy changes have been made following this fatal shooting earlier this month, which remains under investigation by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.

But if any policy changes were to be made, it would be determined after the investigation, he said.

Montaño, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, lived with his 2-year-old daughter, mother, brother and sister.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to support Montaño’s family and raise money for his funeral. As of Thursday morning, about $14,000 has been raised.

“Angel was a proud U.S. Marine, a devoted son, brother, father and to many a loyal friend,” ‘the page reads. “Angel brought light and strength into every room he entered. His unexpected loss has left our family heartbroken, and we are doing everything we can to give him the memorial he deserves.”