Richmond officials push back on grand jury police staffing report

A Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury report criticizing Richmond’s approach to police staffing has triggered a wave of pushback from city officials and police union leaders, reviving tensions over a controversial 2021 decision to reallocate $3 million from the Richmond Police Department.

Councilmember Doria Robinson, who introduced the motion to approve the city’s response, said continued debate over the report was becoming a distraction. She urged the council to stop turning the issue into a spectacle.

“Let’s fix the problem and not continue to make political theater,” Robinson said. “Let’s do some work.”

Robinson said the city had already taken steps to address staffing concerns, including approving police raises and take-home vehicle policies. She said those actions had been unanimous and deserved acknowledgment.

“We’ve all voted unanimously to try to improve what’s going on in the police department,” Robinson said.

The report, Staffing Challenges Facing the Richmond Police Department: Diminishing Funds and Fewer Officers, found the city had not adequately addressed police staffing needs and had failed to act on two outside consultant reports urging increased hiring. On Tuesday, the Richmond City Council approved its formal response to the report, but not without a debate.

Richmond Police Chief Bisa French said the consequences of the 2021 reallocation began months before the vote, when council discussions proposed cutting up to $10 million from the police budget. French said officers began leaving amid fears of layoffs, creating 14 vacant positions that were ultimately used for the $3 million reallocation approved by the City Council.

“Many officers left because they didn’t want to wait to see if they were going to have a job come July 1,” French said.

French explained that, between 2020 and 2025, the department lost nearly all of its specialized units, including narcotics, robbery, traffic, and youth services. The investigations division shrank from nearly 50 detectives to just 13.

Richmond Police Officers Association (RPOA) President Ben Therriault said the city’s handling of the reallocation, hiring, and union negotiations contributed to the department’s instability. Therriault also called out the city’s denial that the 2021 budget decision amounted to defunding the police.

“There was defunding. Absolutely,” Therriault said. “It’s absolutely wrong to say otherwise.”

Therriault argued that the city had delayed implementation of recruitment plans and failed to support internal officer training by not offering appropriate incentives. He also criticized the slow rollout of the Community Crisis Response Program (CCRP), attributing delays to city inaction.

“The city doesn’t move on things,” Therriault said. “Processes take longer to execute.”

Councilmember Sue Wilson voted against approving the response, calling the report divisive and rooted in a false narrative. She said staffing challenges were part of national trends stemming from public reaction to the 2020 killing of George Floyd, not solely a result of Richmond’s 2021 budget decision.

“This whole grand jury process is really divisive. It’s also intrusive,” Wilson said.

Wilson also rejected suggestions that Richmond should use its $550 million settlement from Chevron to fund ongoing police hiring. She said those funds should be used to invest in long-term environmental and health improvements, as the community intended.

Mayor Eduardo Martinez echoed that criticism, saying the report lacked context and ignored information the city had already provided. Martinez said the police union was using the report as leverage during contract negotiations.

“I believe that this might be part of RPOA’s tactics,” Martinez said.

Despite the objections of some councilmembers, the council voted to submit its official response to the Contra Costa Superior Court by the August 7 deadline.

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