The city of Antioch on Tuesday announced that a former acting police chief will once again lead its police department until a permanent chief is hired.
The announcement of former acting chief Joseph Vigil returning as chief on an interim basis comes one day after the city’s first homicide and less than a week after settling with the U.S. Justice Department over a racist text message scandal.
"Transparency, community trust, crime reduction are our priorities," Vigil said during a news conference introducing him Tuesday. "I will update our residents on milestones as we progress on these initiatives. I ask for the community’s involvement, feedback and support as we take on these challenges together."
On Monday, officers found a 26-year-old man shot mulitple times in the 3900 block of Rockford Drive. The man died at a hospital in what is the first recorded homicide in Antioch in 2025.
The acting chief takes over a troubled department from former Chief Brian Addington, who came out of retirement to temporarily lead the Antioch Police Department last year.
Last week, the city took action to put a racist text message scandal in the past by reaching a settlement with the Justice Department. The feds found Antioch PD engaged in race discrimination and other discrimination after dozens of officers exchanged racist text messages between September 2019 and January 2022.
Now, Vigil will oversee hiring of an outside consultant within 90 days to review and update department policies, hire a community engagement liason and provide data collection and reporting to the Justice Department for monitoring for five years.
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