City of Antioch and Antioch PD to Implement Reforms After Racist Text Messages
The Antioch Police Department and the Justice Department have entered an agreement in which they will monitor police progress on alleged civil rights violations.
Use of Racist and Sexist Slurs in Text Messages
The Justice Department had received documents from the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office in April 2023 that brought their attention to text messages allegedly sent among the APD officers, according to the agreement. The messages contained discriminatory content, such as sexist and racist slurs, as well as discussions of potential civil rights violations.
In a story covered by The Daily Muck, officers like Morteza Amiri, 33, and two other officers, Devon Wenger and Eric Rombough, all from Antioch, Calif., had a text chain where they openly discussed violating the civil rights of the citizens by using Amiri’s K-9 unit partner to assault them.
Title VI Violations
In June, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division worked with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California to launch an investigation into the APD under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title VI and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, according to the agreement.
Title VI works to prevent any law enforcement agencies that accept federal funding from using their programs in a way that discriminates based on color, race, sex, nationality or religion, according to the agreement documents. The Safe Streets Act does the same.
The DOJ praised the APD and the City of Antioch for their willingness to cooperate during the investigation, according to the DOJ press release. This demonstrated their commitment to nondiscriminatory APD policing practices, the DOJ claimed.
What the Agreement Says
The Chief of Police retains the same authority to manage personnel and direct operations, including making decisions about promotions and disciplinary actions, according to the agreement. However, there are some other requirements.
Within 90 days, all parties in the agreement must agree on a Consultant, an expert in law enforcement with a proven civil rights and compliance record, who will be retained by the APD and the City’s expenses and serve as a point of contact to the DOJ and investigators, according to the agreement.
The Consultant will review and report the APD’s progress to the investigators; maintain data, records and documents; provide reports in person at Antioch City Council meetings; and assign implementation and compliance-related tasks to APD personnel, which the Police Chief directs, according to the agreement.
The APD agrees to ensure that its policing services embody a commitment to fair and respectful treatment of all citizens that is free of unlawful discrimination and evokes confidence in the department, according to the agreement. The APD will also not engage in selective enforcement or non-enforcement based on specific characteristics.
New policies, with the help of the consultant, should be created and approved by investigators and the APD within 180 days of hiring the consultant, according to the agreement. These policy changes will involve changes to the recruitment and promotions processes, implementing updated training and background checks for recruits and annual reviews and screenings.
This is a five-year agreement, and the DOJ investigators hope the policies will remain in place afterward.
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