Under the resolution passed, an amendment would be made at a future meeting to the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) contract to allow police officers hired from other agencies to retire as early as age 50 while collecting pensions equal to 3 percent of their top salary for every year served. All other employees who work under PERS could retire at age 55 while collecting 2.7 percent. Those hired since 2007 collect at 2 percent.
The move was precipitated mainly as a recruiting tool for the Antioch Police Department to attract officers to transfer from other agencies.
“Do we want 30 21-year-olds on the street?” asked Tom Fuhrmann, president of the Antioch Police Officers Association. “I don’t think so. You have to have a good mix of young and lateral officers to help cross train.”
The decision comes after the city and the Antioch Police Officers Association had agreed in September to amend the PERS contract so police hired after Sept. 1 of this year would need to wait until age 55 to start collecting the pension benefits.
Although an ordinance to amend the contract needs to be passed at a later meeting, councilmembers spoke favorably of the change. The increased benefits would cost the city more money, but exact figures were not available in time for Tuesday’s meeting.
The ordinance must be passed before the end of the year because legislation goes into effect Jan 1. that dictates existing members of PERS, who are hired by another public agency, receive the new agency’s benefits. All new police employees hired after Jan. 1 will be covered under a new statewide 2.7 at 57 pension plan.
“We got one shot at this,” said Mayor Pro Tem Wade Harper. “After Dec. 31, we don’t get to go back.”
According to Human Resource Director Michelle Fitzer, the city is actively trying to hire police officers to fill 15 vacancies, but few officers from outside agencies are applying.
“We would like to explore ways to increase this department, but how can we do this when we can’t even hire to what it is today?” asked Councilman Gary Agopian.
According to Antioch Police Chief Alan Cantando, increasing benefits will attract quality candidates. “We want to keep our standards high when choosing candidates,” Cantando said.
Vallejo, Richmond and San Pablo, which are similar in call volume to Antioch, all use the 3 percent at 50 formula while Brentwood and Pittsburg use a 3 percent at 55 formula.
Cantando expects the city will need to hire 10 to 12 officers in the next year, and about 25 over the next 18 months to replace outgoing officers, most of whom are retiring. It takes between 150 and 175 applicants to find one that makes it through all the prescreening to become an officer.
“We are going to need every tool available,” Cantando said.
The council will meet again Dec. 4 to decide whether to amend the contract.
At this time each one of the police officers in the department makes more in annual overtime pay alone than the average elementary school teacher makes all year. The reason why we aren’t trying to recruit teachers from outside cities is because our teachers are doing a fine job.
Of course the city council should become more involved in the matter of crime increase, but this resolution is just another step in the wrong direction for them. What they need to do is begin drafting pragmatic short-term plan, and long-term plans to combat the city’s unprecedented increase in crime. The key word here is management. Management is the tool that holds the potential for victory in business, war, personal health or any other human interest, or challenge. In this case, the specific challenges facing a managed plan are a lack of funding, and to increase the rate of spending on that shrinking fund does not make any sense. The council is correct in recognizing that improved quality is the key here, but quality cannot be achieved by simply throwing money at the issue. Our city council has time and time again proved that they are inept at being responsible for our police force. They have consistently squandered our money. This is attempt is no different than past failures. What is needed is for the council to own full responsibility. Through proper management they would likely discover their own inadequacies and amend their direction to find paths toward real solutions.
Some things to be considered when assessing this issue:
Every single Antioch city police officer made over $100,000 last year. That is about double the national average wage for that position. Not because each officer’s base wage, but because there has been an abuse of overtime pay by the entire police force for at least the last few years. Just like the real business world, the only time a department should ever need to pay overtime wages is when something unexpected or some unpredicted occurs. To regularly dole out overtime pay is simply a waste of precious dollars. For this practice to have continued so long is an indication as to what the root of the problem is, accountability. The Antioch Police Department has not been held to any level of standard, and has remained free of any checks and measures established by the city, nor has there been much public outcry even as the city has drifted into a land of lawlessness.
At the individual officer and dispatch level there is a more difficult problem to correct. One that would should have been avoided through proper hiring processes to begin with. The performance levels of our force suffer in quality. As I hear repeatedly from other residents, our police officers are “dumb”, and “lazy”. I have to give credit to those who use those terms. They seem to be words that fit quite appropriately. Perhaps it is time for some supervisor reviews to take place. Who is responsible for the level of quality? The management is responsible. The tradition for recent years has been a policy of trying to sell our city to potential police recruits because there is a presumed “shortage” of police officers. I am not sure what that is about when there is an average of 70 new graduates each year from the local police academy at Los Medanos College. It would be nice to believe that the APD was placing priority on recruiting top officers from other neighboring cities in an effort to improve quality. Their true intention is to further provide an illusion that there is a shortage in the hiring pool of qualified police to draw any attention away from the overtime racquet that is taking place. A department that was fully staffed with qualified police would put an end to the exploits of funds that the department now plunders.
More to be considered when assessing the Antioch Police Department:
One of the biggest challenges that police face in Antioch is generated by the officers, and even more so by the dispatchers themselves. It is a lack of concern for individual safety. Specifically for those who contribute to the work needed of police. I am referring to those residents that are willing to be proactive in informing and cooperating with police with investigations of crime. The person who calls 911 to report a crime, or any witness, victim, or person who holds information that could lead to an arrest or who has the ability to assist in the prevention of a crime. The fact remains that the current policy is one of complete disregard by the department for anonymity for those in the know. It is certainly no secret to most would-be crime reporters that the police and dispatchers in this city will make no effort at all toward protecting anyone’s anonymity. In fact, it is usually the contrary and common practice for Antioch Police to reveal a Good Samaritan’s identity to perpetrators. Usually right at the onset of the investigation. Therefore, the only reward for any community member whose heart tells them to assist in the fight against crime is a new label of being a “snitch” or “cop caller”, or worse to further become a target of revenge by those arrested. This obviously promotes “nobody saw anything” type of recourse by the community. Everyone knows that the eyes and ears of the cops cannot be everywhere. In all low crime communities, you will always find police that rely and work with victims and witnesses. It promotes effective police work when the police make deliberate effort to protect the identity and safety of innocent cooperatives. To do otherwise is nonproductive, belligerent, and malicious. The resident’s safety is supposed to be the foremost concern of the police.
The ultimate responsibility for keeping a city’s crime rate down lies in the hands of the citizens. Only through a substantial part of the community becoming informed, becoming involved, and by owning and holding others responsible can a successful crime fighting effort be successful. The city government and the community need to place our police force under further scrutiny, and review. Individual police officers have simply taken the path of least resistance. They are just dealing with the job as much as they need to in order to bring the paycheck home and come home in one piece. As long as nobody is holding the officers responsible to a level of quality of their work, then an officer has no incentive for improvement. The problem is that people are dying and the quality of police work continues to go unchecked. Criminals know that they have the city under grip. There is little to dissuade a man from conducting his affairs with force or violence. Those men who have more respect for guns than they do for other people know that this is their season. They know that the city is most likely unable to pin point them if they commit a crime. In a sense, it is a war and the police gave up a long time ago. It is obviously a leadership issue. There is an indication of increased frustration by police. It is the growing number of spent shell casings of the officer’s revolvers who confront offenders. The cops are confused, frustrated, unorganized, and unstable. Where they can do little individually, they make up for through overkill when they are in numbers or in clear advantage. Anyone interacting with police who does anything that causes officers to fear their own safety is currently at risk of being slaughtered. It is time for leaders in the community and in the city government to step forward and call to order a plan to deal with the growing crime issues. First consideration should be made of the police chief. Lack of funds is simply not a legitimate excuse in light of the salary spoils taking place. Our police chief has some explaining to do. His tenure change might be the change needed to begin the process of improvement. Checks and measures, as well as shakedowns or forced management changes always require intervention. In this case, those who would be called upon to act would be the city government and possibly the community as well. At the least our police department needs to be under scrutiny during these fevered times. What steps are we making toward change? What are the models for levels of quality? Is it policy to hold each member of the police department accountable for service and quality levels?
Perhaps looking at how others cities are using technology as new weapons against crime might lead to some solutions for us. Richmond has a new gunshot locating system. These new systems are becoming more and more popular as an effective way to fight violent crime in many cities. There have been several other profound advances in technology. Perhaps introduction of one or more new technological tools is what Antioch police need to gain an advantage in their fight against crime. Innovation often opens up success for those faced with disadvantaged. Any experimental spending of funds should be spent on more pragmatic areas of experimentation. Not on experimental retirement of police officer at the age of 50.
-Mike Kitterman