In wake of racist-text scandal, Antioch appoints first civilian police oversight commission

Vanessa Rosales of the Antioch City Clerk’s office reads the oath of office to new Antioch police oversight commissioners on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. New commissioners, from left, include Porsche Taylor, Leslie May, Treva Hadden, Mahogany Spears, Alicia Dianne Lacey-Oha, Harry Thurston and Devin Williams.

“Everybody here advocated for this, and we pushed it when other people refused to act, were paralyzed to act and didn’t want to act,” Mayor Pro-Tem Tamisha Torres-Walker said. “We acted, this council.” Many other Bay Area cities have formed similar police commissions, including Oakland — along with then-Mayor Libby Schaaf, the commission fired the OPD police chief in 2020 — and San Francisco, which set a policy on how police can stop and search suspects. But because Antioch is a general law city, the city’s commission will not have the same type of power that those charter cities have.

Hernandez-Thorpe said a city ordinance created guidelines for selection of the seven commission members who would come from each of the city’s four districts, as well as three at-large representatives — one from the faith-based community, the school district and the business sector. Each council member, as well as youth under 18, were involved in interviewing candidates and narrowing down the list, he said.

“I think this is premature, your selection is premature,” Hernandez said, suggesting some candidates might already have “a predisposition against the police.” One-year term nominees approved Tuesday include Devin Williams and Alicia Dianne Lacey-Oha. Two-year term commissioners will be Porsche Taylor and Leslie May, while three-year terms went to Mahogany Spears, Treva Hadden and Harry Thurston. They were all approved on a 3-0 vote, with councilmembers Mike Barbanica and Monica Wilson absent.

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