The city of Fresno remains in the preliminary steps to hire a new police chief, Mayor Jerry Dyer tells GV Wire.

“We’ve had some internal meetings. We are diligently working through the process. And then the next step will be to hire a search firm. We are working feverishly toward that,” Dyer said.

As of Thursday morning, the city had not posted the job on its website.

The city placed then-chief Paco Balderrama on administrative leave on June 12, after revelations he had an affair with the wife of an officer under his command. The city launched an official investigation after learning of the affair in February.

The city installed Deputy Chief Mindy Casto as acting chief.

Balderrama Resigned on June 25

Balderrama resigned as chief on June 25, and Casto became the interim chief. Balderrama is working as a city consultant until July 25.

Dyer previously said the search could take up to five months.

This is the third police chief search in five years. In 2019, the city named Deputy Chief Andy Hall as the replacement for the retiring Dyer — who served as police chief for 18 years before moving to politics. Hall was a designated short-timer, as he had a 2021 retirement date.

A second search in 2020 yielded Balderrama, a bilingual deputy chief from Oklahoma City.

Both times the city used an outside consultant to help formulate the search and recruitment.

During his three-plus years as Fresno’s chief, Balderrama helped reduce the homicide and violent crime rates and led recruiting efforts that resulted in Fresno’s largest-ever police force.