The City of Antioch welcomes its third interim police chief in 18 months through its revolving door, and new Chief Joe Vigil will have the department's racist text scandal and a new federal oversight monitor to deal with.  The myriad scandals of the Antioch Police Department over the last two years have managed to overshadow the extreme amount of turnover at the top of that department; the Antioch Police Department has had five police chiefs over the past three-and-a-half years, and as of today, its third interim police chief in just 18 months. And indeed, the police department scandals have been doozies. What started as racist text message offenses quickly morphed into state and federal investigations into the department, and several officers had their homes raided by the FBI. That turned up allegations that officers were dealing steroids and faking college credits, and the accused officers ducked their court hearings claiming they had “industrial injuries.” Meanwhile, Antioch’s police chiefs kept quitting the job, adding to the turmoil.  And so this week the City of Antioch announced it would be appointing yet another new interim police chief. The city’s official notice made a point of saying “Acting Chief of Police” as opposed to “Interim Chief of Police,” though the new top cop will clearly still be “interim.”And KTVU was the first with the news Tuesday morning that former Sacramento, Richmond, and Antioch Police Officer Joe Vigil will be Antioch’s new Chief of Police (it’s pronounced “VEE-hill”). The “revolving door” description of the job feels apt, considering that Vigil was already interim Antioch Police Chief from August 2023 to February 2024, while the above-named scandals were all raging.“Chief Vigil has dedicated his life to serving the residents of Antioch,” City Manager Bessie Marie Scott said in a statement. “He’s a proven leader who will continue championing our reforms addressing violence reduction, community engagement, and strengthening our police ranks.”The Antioch Police Department also added in their own statement that a nationwide search for a new permanent chief is continuing, so it seems Vigil will be a temporary hire. Though these things can take years, so who knows.  Federal officials agreed to drop a race discrimination investigation into the Antioch Police Department after police leaders agreed to a range of stipulations.https://t.co/sVnBaXR6kI— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) January 4, 2025 And inconveniently, the department is now under federal oversight by the US Justice Department in a direct response to the racist text scandal, as CNN reports. Though it’s actually pretty lax oversight. A release from the Justice Department says the Antioch PD “will hire an expert law enforcement consultant” to update “policies, procedures, and training on a variety of topics, including non-discriminatory policing, use of force, hiring and promotions, investigations of misconduct, discipline, community policing, language access, and other topics.”So yeah, they’re just bringing in a temporary consultant. Meanwhile, Joe Vigil will be sworn in on Friday morning. Meanwhile, there’s still plenty of crime in Antioch. KRON4 reports there were two shootings in Antioch Monday, one of them fatal, killing an unnamed 26-year-old man. There was also a drive-by-shooting at an Antioch donut shop the night before New Year’s Eve.Related: Feds Detail Charges Against Antioch, Pittsburg Cops: Dealing Steroids, Siccing K9 on Suspects, Faking College Credits [SFist]Image: Antioch Police Department via Facebook