Residents in Antioch, California, have been stunned by the investigation that has exposed nearly half the 99-officer squad
Antioch is also a city that takes pride in its law enforcement. In the downtown corridor, blue flags honoring officers and veterans hang from lamp-posts, making that culture clear to visitors.
“Ultimately, these are the people we trust to keep us safe,” echoed Wilson. Now, she said, if someone in Antioch calls the police hoping for assistance, they will have concerns about who is going to show up and whether that officer will act in their best interests, especially if they are a woman, person of color, or member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Lamar Thorpe, the mayor of Antioch, was named directly in officers’ text messages. He is one of the city’s three Black lawmakers.Antioch’s mayor, Lamar Thorpe, says he thinks that the recent revelations will floor even police champions. “For those who are religious supporters of the police department, I think there is a lot of heartbreak and disappointment,” he said. “I think they feel somewhat betrayed.
For Thorpe, events like this magnify the intergenerational trauma experienced by Black people in the US. “Things like this … take us to places that we can envision, but have never been,” he said. “We don’t know what the chains looked like, but we have a clear understanding of what it felt like.”To re-establish a trusting relationship between law enforcement and the people of Antioch, community leaders are adamant that systemic changes must be made.
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