Following an investigation into officers’ racist text messages—exchanges that included slurs and dehumanizing images of Black people—the federal government’s solution is to hire a consultant and tweak policies. But for a department whose officers openly bragged about brutalizing people in custody, does anyone seriously believe more training will fix this?
The 2023 report from the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office exposed what many already knew: Antioch police weren’t just sharing racist jokes in private—they were actively engaging in violence against the very community they were meant to “serve.” Officers openly discussed their use of excessive force, including one who admitted to kicking a person in the head in an attempt to knock them unconscious. This wasn’t an isolated incident; it was a culture of cruelty, backed by a system that allows officers to act with impunity.
Despite this, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke framed the agreement as a step toward progress, praising Antioch police for “sending a strong message” by cooperating with federal oversight. But what kind of message is being sent when officers charged with federal civil rights violations—accused of deploying attack dogs, firing less-lethal projectiles, and recording their abuse for personal entertainment—are met with policy updates instead of abolition? The community called for justice, but instead, they’re being handed a watered-down promise of “accountability” that does little to address the root of the issue.
This agreement, set to last five years, does nothing to dismantle the systems that allow racist brutality to persist. The people of Antioch—and beyond—deserve more than surface-level changes. They deserve safety, real justice, and a future free from the violence of policing.
Link: CNN
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