Settlement reached in class-action lawsuit alleging widespread Antioch police abuses

"Nearly two dozen people claiming to have been abused by dozens of Antioch police officers reached a landmark settlement Friday with the city's leaders, setting the stage for widespread reforms at one of the Bay Area's most troubled police departments. Attorneys for the 23 Antioch residents hailed the settlement Friday as "a complete overhaul of the department's policies and procedures that will serve as a roadmap for constitutional policing and benefit the entire Antioch community," according to a news release announcing the accord."

"Burris and another attorney, Jim Chanin, led the charge in a similar lawsuit filed about 20 years ago against the city of Oakland on behalf of 119 plaintiffs - mostly Black West Oakland residents - who claimed they were brutalized and framed by Oakland officers known as the Riders. The scandal led to federal court oversight of the Oakland Police Department that continues to this day."

"The revelations of those texts provided "certified proof of the depth of many Antioch Police Department Officers' bigotry, racism, willingness to falsify evidence, and their celebration of their own uses of unconstitutional force," according to the original complaint, filed by longtime civil rights attorney John Burris and other attorneys with his firm."

Twenty-three Antioch residents reached a landmark settlement with city leaders that will initiate widespread reforms and overhaul police department policies and procedures. City leaders, including the city manager, city attorney and police chief, planned a press conference and public signing to detail the agreement. The lawsuit filed in April 2023 named 45 officers and cited explosive allegations of racist text messages and jokes about fabricating evidence and violating residents' civil rights. The complaint described the texts as certified proof of officers' bigotry, racism, falsifying evidence and celebration of unconstitutional force. Several officers faced federal charges and later pleaded guilty or were convicted.

Read at The Mercury News