Safety
The city of Richmond experienced no homicides in the month of November but had shootouts with large magazines of rifle ammo used.
The Richmond Police Department is slated to start off the New Year understaffed and with slim hopes of filling the employment gap before the end of the second quarter of 2020.
Suspects remained at large amid an ongoing police investigation of the shooting that wounded three teenagers outside De Anza High School after a football game last Friday, September 27.
RICHMOND, CA – Interim City Manager Steven Falk named Assistant Police Chief Bisa French as the new interim chief of police for Richmond after announcing at Tuesday’s City Council meeting that Police Chief Allwyn Brown stepped down from his position. French is the city’s first black woman to lead the Richmond Police Department. Interim City Manager Falk indicated there will be no active search for a new permanent police chief this year. “It is not my intention to initiate a…
The commission currently seats only five of nine members. This means that if one commissioner is absent, the commission won’t have a quorum and will be unable to take action.
The report last year by MBD Innovations, a public safety consulting group, identified six key issues within the department: a lack of a compelling vision; a disconnect between management and staff; poor morale; poor handling of high-profile disciplinary cases; a lacking relationship between the city manager and the police chief; and an unnecessarily acrimonious relationship between the Richmond Police Officers Association and the Richmond Police Department (RPD) administration.
On Tuesday, the Richmond City Council heard presentations on wastewater infrastructure and School Resource Officers—or SROs—among other items. SROs, who are full-time police officers stationed at schools, have come under criticism recently in the West Contra Costa Unified School District due to budget constraints and because parents, teachers and other community members have raised questions about their effect on school climate. Several members of the Richmond Police Department—Chief Allwyn Brown, Sergeant Lynette Parker and Officer Joseph England—explained the role of…
This year, California had the largest number of people registered to vote in the state’s history, with nearly 20 million ready to hit today’s polls. Formerly incarcerated people in Richmond, some of whom are voting for the first time, helped the state reach that record. In the lead up to the election, organizations across the city worked to educate formerly incarcerated people and their families about their right to vote. Laws vary across the country on voting rights for those…
They have no health insurance. They work ten or 11-hour days. They have no free weekends. No, they aren’t flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant. They are attorneys on the government’s payroll. Public defenders, the lawyers hired by the county government to aid those who cannot afford legal representation, showed up at the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors meeting on September 11th to demand better pay and benefits. They are not only overworked, but at entry-level jobs, they…