Investigation continues, expected to conclude next week

“…some officers have returned to work or will be returning, although some have been terminated.” – APOA attorney Mike Rains

UPDATE: As of Friday, April 12, 2024, APD has 77 current sworn officers of which 50 are on full duty status.

By Allen D.  Payton 

Following up on a February Herald article about the Antioch Police Officers still on paid for the investigation into the racist text scandal since last March, questions were emailed on Thursday evening, Feb. 8, 2024, to City Attorney Thomas L. Smith, Acting City Manager Kwame Reed and Human Resources Director Ana Chavez asking:

“How long can police officers or any city employee remain on paid administrative leave?

Since most of the officers merely received but didn’t send any of the text messages, what possible disciplinary actions can be taken against them? 

When will the officers who merely received but didn’t send any text messages return to work? Have any of them yet? If so, how many?

Can the investigation just go on indefinitely and the taxpayers continue to pay the officers on leave to not do their jobs?

Can’t the officers return to work as each one is deemed to have not committed any fireable offense?

Or do all of them have to wait to return to work until after the entire investigation has been completed?

Have any disciplinary actions been taken against any of the officers, yet? If so, how many? What did they include?

Have any of you been approached or pressured by any of the council members to keep the investigation open and not allow the officers to return to work – other than the public statements by the mayor and Councilwoman Torres-Walker that they want all of them fired?” (See related articles here and here)

No responses to those questions were received from the three city staff members.

At that time, 31 sworn officers were on some form of leave, most of whom were for the text investigation and only 50 on the force were actively working. As previously reported, most of the officers caught up in the scandal only received some of the text messages but didn’t send any. (See related articles here, here and here)

On Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in response to a resident claiming none of the officers were still on leave due to the text scandal, questions about the officers on leave were asked of Acting City Manager Kwame Reed, Acting Police Chief Brian Addington and Mike Rains, attorney for the Antioch Police Officers Association.

They were asked if that statement was correct, if all the officers had returned to work and if any of them had been terminated.

Reed responded simply, “The process is still ongoing.”

Addington wrote, “That is incorrect, but I can’t comment further.”

However, Rains shared more details writing, “We have not resolved all the cases. Some are resolved, and some officers have returned to work or will be returning, although some have been terminated.”

“I won’t discuss the outcome of administrative cases until all are concluded, probably in a week – 10 days,” he added.

According to a post by Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe on his official Facebook page entitled, “April Police Staffing Update” of the 115 sworn officer positions approved in the city budget, there are currently 89 sworn officers including nine Community Service Officers on the force. Of that amount 39 are patrol officers. His report also shares that there are six officer candidates currently in the Police. Academy and seven more are preparing to enter the academy this month.

But it doesn’t mention how many sworn officers are currently active. A question was emailed early Thursday afternoon to both Reed and Addington asking how many of the 80 non-CSO sworn officers are currently active.

UPDATE #1: They did not respond before end-of-business hours on Thursday. However, when asked if he had any comment, APOA Vice President Sgt. Loren Bledsoe responded, “The APOA cannot comment on personnel matters; however, we look forward to the conclusion of the investigation so we can focus on rebuilding.”

UPDATE #2: On Friday, Acting Chief Addington provided the following department staffing details, writing, “As you may be aware, staffing levels can change daily. With that said, as of today, APD staffing levels are as follows:

115 – Authorized sworn staff

77 – Current sworn staff

5 – Modified duty (working but not able to work at full capacity)

22 – On some form of leave

50 – Full Duty Status

39 – Assigned to Patrol – 33 officers, 4 sergeants, 2 watch commanders

7 – Assigned to Investigations – 1 lieutenant

4 – Command Staff

7 – Community Services Officers (4 vacancies).”