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Dyer defends police; Council approves rifle order
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By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 7 years ago on
December 16, 2016

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The police chief wanted to protect his department. Community activist bristled at the thought of the militarization of those who are supposed to protect and serve them. A councilman who has straddled the line of both sides tried to bridge the two opposing forces together.

Thursday night, the council approved the police department’s urgent request to purchase 270 Colt-made patrol rifles. The urgency allows the department to bypass the normal bidding process in hopes of shaving weeks off the process to buy the guns.

Although some activists who spoke out against the deal decried the amended bidding process, they were more concerned about the type of weapons to be purchased. They called them assault weapons, military weapons and guns that are not legal for everyday citizens.

“You have a community that is screaming for reform within the police department,” community activist Justice Medina said at the public comment podium. “You have a nation that is scared of militarization of the police department.”

But Jerry Dyer, the Fresno Chief of Police, delivered an impassioned response as to why the rifles are needed. He cited sensational crimes that have shook America in recent years: the terror-motivated shootings in San Bernardino, the ambush of police in Dallas, and the mass killings in Aurora, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut.

“We ought to be irate as a nation over those things,” Dyer said, referring to above incidents.  “We’re coming across gang members every week in our city that are armed with assault rifles that are doing drive-by shootings. They are not doing them with handguns.”

Dyer talked about the advantages of rifles. He said officers can stay at a further distance than with a handgun. “When you do that, you have more time to make a decision,” Dyer said. “I have an obligation, I have a responsibility just as you do (referring to council), to give our officers the equipment that they need to keep themselves safe. “

Councilman Oliver Baines  is no stranger to taking up activist causes. It is accurate to say he has liberal tendencies in his voting record. Before he was a councilman, he was a officer in the Fresno Police Department, experience he drew upon in his comments from the dais.

“This isn’t an either/or conversation. It is ‘and’. At some point, as a policy maker, it is our job also to make sure that our police officers have equipment,” Baines commented. “It is not we are arm our officers with the proper equipment or community based policing. We as a community have to do both.”

The council voted 5-0 (with Baines abstaining and Esmeralda Soria absent) to grant the emergency purchase, up to $325,000. The department will use an informal bidding process, in which Deputy Chief Robert Nevarez tells GV Wire will still lead to competitive bidding.

In other police-related items, the council did approve a $1.8 million dollar purchase of 60 patrol cruisers.

And, council delayed a vote on whether to purchase monitoring software and a policy crafting rules on the release of police videos.

Many of the same community activists were concerned about the software. The “Beware” program published by West Corporation would provide data culled from public sources on a given person, such as a suspect police are encountering. Questions were raised about how accurate information of a potential suspect would be and just how much information would be shared with police.

Attorney Stuart Chandler also questioned the policy on the videos. One section would allow the Chief of Police to edit video before being released to the public. That bothered Chandler, attorney for the mother of Dylan Noble (the 19-year old killed by police last year, captured on police video). Chandler also expressed concern that there is no provision to preserve the original video.

At the request of incoming mayor Lee Brand, council delayed the two proposals so they can be vetted by a citizens’ police oversight committee. The formation of the group is one of Brand’s campaign promises.

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David Taub,
Senior Reporter
Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email

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