An investigation by the Bay Area News Group found acting police Chief Joseph Vigil, Sgt. Rick Hoffman— the president of the Antioch Police Officers Association — and others concluded time and again that the actions of the charged officers followed department guidelines and deserved no discipline.
An FBI probe found that some of the uses of force violated departmental policies — as well as people’s civil rights.
Frank Sterling Jr., an Antioch resident and a member of Reimagine Antioch, told the Bay Area News Group that Vigil and Hoffman are the problem – “They signed off on all this. Now they’re watching the henhouse.” Sterling personally sued the department and Hoffman over alleged police brutality.
The ACCE Contra Costa Antioch Chapter said they were “disgusted and appalled” by the department’s leaders. They are demanding that Vigil and Hoffman resign immediately “for their attempts to deny justice.”
The group also called for a review of the shooting of Daniel Mackin, who was injured last month after four Antioch officers fired dozens of shots at the armed 30-year-old man as he ran from them.
The coalition organized a rally on Saturday afternoon outside the Antioch Police Department calling for greater oversight of the department, as well as the firing and decertification of officers implicated in the agency’s racist texting scandal.
Nearly half of the the Antioch police department's approximately 100 officers -- including 16 in management positions – have been implicated of being involved in a racist and homophobic texting scandal.
