OAKLEY — As Antioch looks to increase the presence of law enforcement to reduce criminal activity in hot spots around the city, the Oakley Police Department will now be available to step up and help its counterpart.

Related Articles

East Bay man in fake CHP car arrested for posing as a police officer

Oakland homicide victim ID’d as 25-year-old father of 11

Oakland FBI investigation: Ex-Mayor Sheng Thao, partner indicted amid sprawling FBI public corruption inquiry, sources say

Oakland man gets 21 years in murder case involving vigilante justice over car break-in. The other suspect walked free

Human remains found at East Bay beach

The Oakley City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved Antioch’s request to periodically use outside police agencies as force multipliers in support of the neighboring police department.

Oakley Police Chief Paul Beard said Antioch requested aid due to “compromised staffing” and an uptick in incidents in the Sycamore corridor, which overwhelmed the department.

“I do consider that what is happening in Antioch to be fairly localized to the borders of Antioch, to the jurisdiction of Antioch,” said Beard. “But we share a border with Antioch, and I feel that the corrosion of values that have occurred in Antioch tend to leak out beyond its borders, and by that, we can be negatively impacted.”

Beard said two of his officers recently were involved in a pursuit of an alleged stolen vehicle involving two Antioch residents.

“Those two residents were in a stolen vehicle, and they were most likely involved in a robbery, and there were spent casings in that vehicle,” said Beard.

The request for assistance from outside law enforcement agencies was made official after a vote in October 2024 when the Antioch City Council earmarked up to $500,000 for its gun violence reduction initiative. The allocation is meant to aid the Antioch Police Department so that it can better respond to troubled areas and fill in gaps in the department caused by a racist text scandal and allegations of widespread misconduct.

The Antioch department currently has 80 sworn officers out of 115 authorized positions, but efforts are underway to increase staffing.

Brian Addington, who recently served as Antioch’s interim police chief, said his department was in talks with its lawyers and insurance risk carriers to carve out a service agreement to rope outside law enforcement agencies to help.

Beard said the interagency agreement was formally drafted about six weeks ago.

“But no formal operation has taken place so far,” said Beard.

Beard said the Oakley Police Department will not be handling routine service calls with the additional aid but will help with patrolling certain hot spots from time to time.

The agreement, which would see Antioch pay up to $200 per man-hour to the assisting agency, also covers vehicle maintenance and fuel costs during the operations. However, it would not cover court appearances if the assistance of outside agencies resulted in the arrest of individuals during operations.

Beard said Oakley already assists the Antioch Police Department and others through a program called COCOMO. The program includes traffic officers from Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Pittsburg, Richmond, and the California Highway Patrol, who conduct directed traffic enforcement in dedicated areas.

Oakley also participates in the Vehicle Theft Suppression Enforcement Team, which consists of all law-enforcement agencies in Contra Costa County that focus on seeking out stolen vehicles and enforcing crimes that are associated with them.

“So it’s not unheard of that we are already assisting Antioch in some fashion,” said Beard.

He said agencies typically contact the county sheriff’s office or the California Highway Patrol for additional aid. However, Beard said the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office was understaffed, and the California Highway Patrol is helping Oakland with similar enforcement assistance.

Beard said over the past three years, Oakley has hired 17 police officers and can provide more services to residents.

He added that the Oakley department has a special services team that would provide Antioch with backup. However, officers from Oakley will be accompanied by a sergeant.

“I want my officers to understand that they are answering to a sergeant from the Oakley Police Department,” he said.

The team works from Tuesday through Friday and would help Antioch if an operation is scheduled.

“Maintaining public safety in the community of Oakley is paramount. I believe, in some measure, Oakley is threatened by what is occurring in Antioch,” said Beard. “Our participation in a request for aid to the city of Antioch would actually help stabilize the east county region, which we are directly part of.”

Councilmember Anissa Williams asked at what point the agreement will come up for another discussion.

“If they reach out to us two months in a row and we’re not able to help, then potentially they’re not going to keep asking. But at what point do we re-discuss?” asked Williams.

Beard said Oakley is “under no obligation to engage in the aid” but will discuss with Antioch if he needs his officers for internal purposes.

Vice Mayor Hugh Henderson asked if Oakley could withdraw from operations that it doesn’t feel comfortable participating in, to which Beard said “yes.”

Mayor Shannon Shaw said Oakley is in a unique situation as Antioch would have first reached out to the California Highway Patrol and Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office if they could.

“I believe in helping our neighbors because it is our neighbors that can affect us the most,” said Shaw. “So, I am in support of it.”