Antioch officials agreed to pay $190,000 to former police Chief Steven Ford after leaked details of a pending administrative investigation prompted his legal claim. Officials cleared Ford of allegations that he had an improper relationship with a city staffer, finding them unfounded. The settlement signed Aug. 25 required payment and at minimum notifying a specific newspaper reporter about the agreement. The city stated that investigative information was inappropriately revealed to the press before Ford learned of it and that the premature disclosure produced damaging media coverage in December. The investigation was opened in late 2024 after a civilian tipster's allegation; an estranged-wife email to city officials earlier raised similar accusations.
A legal settlement signed Aug. 25 promised the city would pay Ford $190,000 and, at a minimum, inform a specific newspaper reporter about the agreement. A statement released by the city says that information about the investigation was inappropriately revealed to the press before Ford even learned of it, and that this resulted in damaging media coverage on or about the day this news organization published a story on the probe last December.
Ford, a longtime veteran of the San Francisco Police Department before coming to Antioch, didn't immediately return a request for comment. Ford's claims against the city centered on an administrative investigation that was opened in late 2024 nearly a-year-and-a-half after his departure. It was an initiated by a civilian tipster who accused Ford of having an improper relationship with a staffer, according to an email by City Manager Bessie M. Scott informing Lamar Hernandez Thorpe, Antioch's then-mayor, about the investigation.
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