Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Does Fresno Need More Police? What District 2 Candidates Say
GV-Wire
By Jody Murray
Published 6 years ago on
July 5, 2019

Share

The $1.2 billion Fresno city budget approved last month for the 2019-20 fiscal year includes no increases in sworn police officers.
That doesn’t sit well with at least one candidate for the open seat on the Fresno City Council.
Three of the five men vying for the District 2 seat talked about policing and other issues at a candidates forum June 26, presented by GV Wire and CMAC. A special election is scheduled for Aug. 13 to select a replacement for Steve Brandau, who was elected to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors in October.
Candidates Jared Gordon, Mike Karbassi, and Oscar Sandoval took part in the forum. The remaining two, Lawrence Garcia and George Herman, chose not to participate.

Number of Sworn Fresno Officers Unchanged

The 825 sworn officers in the upcoming budget, approved by the city council in June, is essentially unchanged from police staffing levels in 2018-19. The department had 800 officers in 2017-18.
The police department’s budget for the coming year is $201.8 million, up 9.5% from the current fiscal year. In addition to sworn officers, the number of total employees in the department also is unchanged, at 1,122.
The council’s District 2 lies in the police department’s northwest district. Violent crime in the policing district (which covers an area beyond just District 2) decreased by 17.9% in 2018, from 28 reported incidents in 2017 to 23. Property crime, however, rose by 12.8%, to a total of 380 cases. Burglaries leaped by 53% and vehicle thefts by 65%.

Karbassi: ‘Every Budget Should Add More Cops’

Karbassi said he has taken a “no officers, no budget” pledge. “If you come to me with a budget that doesn’t include hiring more police officers or support staff, I’m not going to vote for it,” he said.
He said research indicates Fresno is far below the ratio of officers to residents necessary to ensure proper levels of public safety. Fresno is about 200 officers short, he said: “Every budget should add more cops.”
Karbassi declined to give specifics about where the city could find the money to hire more police. “I’m not going to single out any department,” he said. “But I’m going to look at the budget line item by line item. We’re going to have to find the money.”

Gordon: Make Officers More Effective and Capable

Gordon said he was willing to look at increasing the size of the police force, but added he believes the city can do more to sharpen the capabilities of the officers it has.
“New officers cost about $120,000 a year, so we’d have to find a way to pay for those officers. It’s a challenge that we’ll face,” Gordon said.
He said the city should invest more in training current officers, giving them new tools and equipment, and “improving their communications capabilities.”
“We can make the officers that we have more effective and more capable,” Gordon said. “We don’t necessarily need to be at the typical level of officers, although certainly if we can afford it we should be there.”

Sandoval: Officers Should Be Like Neighbors

Sandoval agreed that “our police officers shouldn’t be understaffed.” But, like Gordon, he said the focus should be on the existing force. “There is more we can do to foster better relationships between the police and the community,” he said.
More programs that improve relationships between police and the people they serve is important, Sandoval said. “When you think about a policeman, ideally you always want to put the word ‘neighbor’ in front of them, because that’s what these people should be.”
Sandoval noted a recent weekend of gun violence in Fresno that included a 10-month-old girl being shot in the head. At one of the shooting scenes, many witnesses refused to cooperate with officers, he said.
“Unfortunately, that stems from a distrust in the police department as a whole,” Sandoval said. “And that affects all of us because that allows criminals to keep good to get away with their crime.”

DON'T MISS

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

DON'T MISS

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Halts Dozens of Research Grants at Princeton University

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

DON'T MISS

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

DON'T MISS

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

DON'T MISS

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

DON'T MISS

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

UP NEXT

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

UP NEXT

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

UP NEXT

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

UP NEXT

Three Missing Fresno Teens Found Safe After Nine Days

UP NEXT

Lakers Hold Off Rockets With 6 3-Pointers Apiece From Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent

UP NEXT

Athletics Bat Boy Stewart Thalblum Takes Down Drone in Left Field

UP NEXT

NFL Postpones Tush Push Decision but Passes Other Rule Changes, AP Source Says

UP NEXT

March Madness: It’s South Carolina vs. Texas and UCLA vs. UConn in Women’s Final Four

UP NEXT

Kings County Authorities Recover Stolen Tractor. Suspect Faces Prop 36 Penalty

UP NEXT

Voice of America Wins in Court, for Now, as Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Firing Staff

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

6 hours ago

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

7 hours ago

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

7 hours ago

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

7 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

8 hours ago

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

8 hours ago

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

8 hours ago

House Speaker Johnson Fails to Squash a Proxy Voting Effort From New Moms in Congress

9 hours ago

UN Agency Closes Its Remaining Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle Under Israeli Blockade

9 hours ago

Hooters Goes Bust and Files for Bankruptcy Protection

9 hours ago

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

Elon Musk has reclaimed his position as the world’s wealthiest individual, according to Forbes’ 39th annual World’s Billio...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

6 hours ago

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

Nassau Hall at Princeton University is in Princeton, N.J., Oct. 8, 2024. (AP File)
6 hours ago

Trump Administration Halts Dozens of Research Grants at Princeton University

After 31 years of service, Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy IV and Pilot Michael Sill is retiring, having logged over 10,000 flight hours.
6 hours ago

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

Khalid Ahmad holds a poster of his 17-year-old son, Waleed, who died in an Israeli prison, that reads in Arabic, "The hero prisoner Martyr, mercy and eternity for our righteous Martyrs," in the West Bank town of Silwad, northeast of Ramallah Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP/Nasser Nasser)
7 hours ago

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

7 hours ago

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

7 hours ago

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

Vehicles at an Audi showroom in Miami, March 29, 2025. President Donald Trump has said that tariffs would encourage auto companies and their suppliers to move to the U.S. (Saul Martinez/The New York Times)
8 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend