ANTIOCH, Calif. (KRON) - The city of Antioch is reeling from a series of shootings and in-custody deaths and for that reason, the mayor has called a special council meeting where he is seeking approval for police reforms he believes need to be happening now.
The time to act is now, says Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe.
On Friday, he intends to pitch the city council his plan for police reform during a special meeting.
This as the city grips with multiple shooting and in-custody death investigations.
"I was waiting for March, but with pent-up demand and frustration from members of our community, with different issues that we're dealing with, its times like these where people voted for leadership and I think its time for myself and my colleagues on the city council to take action,” Thorpe said.
It has been a violent past week in Antioch -- Two first responders were shot, a man died in police custody and two men were arrested Wednesday after shots were fired inside a Target store that left one man wounded.
“It's about accountability. It's about trust. It's about transparency," Thorpe said.
Thorpe says he has a good working relationship with Police Chief Tammany Brooks, adding that the two collaborated on some of Thorpe’s proposed changes the council will evaluate:
- Creating a mental health crisis response team
- Officer training enhancements
- Demilitarizing the police force
- Increasing accountability and transparency -- including the implementation of body-worn and in-vehicle cameras
- Establishing an independent review of on-duty police officer complaints
- Improving police hiring and screening practices
- The way the public and city leaders are notified about major incidents
“As long as we have segments of our population that don't feel the level of confidence that other groups do, then we'll continue to see some of these incidents where people feel freely able to show up to a Target and start shooting," Thorpe said.
Thorpe says if his plan is adopted, some reforms could be implemented immediately, while others, like ordering and deploying body cameras could take months to put into place.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3ku1EbZ
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