The nearly 850 Fresno police officers are now back under contract after the city struck a new labor accord. Announced late Thursday afternoon after a 7-0 vote by the Fresno City Council and ratified by 96% of the members of the Fresno Police Officers' Association, the new three-year deal...
A ‘Well Liked’ Veteran Fresno Police Officer Is in the Hospital With COVID-19
A 'well liked' veteran Fresno police officer is in the hospital with COVID-19. "I can't get into the particulars on it, but he has had some complications with COVID-19," Fresno Police Sgt. Jeff LaBlue tells GV Wire℠. "We're waiting to see how the medication takes to his body." LaBlue says the officer's...
Fresno Reform Commission Will Focus on Community Policing: Baines
In the wake of calls for police reform, Fresno Black Lives Matter supporters and police leaders agree that the formation of a Commission on Police Reform is a good idea. After the Fresno State chapter of the NAACP presented a workshop at Thursday's city council meeting, council president Miguel Arias...
Hundreds Gather at Northeast Fresno Vigil for George Floyd
As violent protests dotted Minneapolis and the rest of the country after the death of George Floyd, nearly 200 peaceful protesters gathered for a vigil Friday night in northeast Fresno. "Black lives matter! It bears repeating," organizer Karen Polnitz told the crowd, most wearing masks and practicing social distancing. Video of...
Fresno Police Chief: Stay-at-Home Orders Only 'Panic' Community
Fresno Police Chief Andy Hall says that shelter-in-place orders spurred by the coronavirus are "symbolic in nature and will only serve to panic an already uneasy and unstable community." While Hall agrees with limiting gathering places and staying at home, he also said this in a Thursday morning email to the...
Fresno PD Officer-Involved Shootings at Record Low, Dismissals Go Up
The Fresno Police Department had historic lows for officer-involved shootings and bias complaints in 2019 while experiencing a six-year high in employee dismissals. Those are the big takeaways from the city's Office of Independent Review fourth-quarter report. Listen to this article: The independent reviewer said that the three officer-involved shootings...
Kings County Supervisors Talk Water With Trump
Two Kings County supervisors spoke with the president at a Washington event on Tuesday (Oct. 24). During a State Leadership Event Day meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, President Donald Trump talked about California water. That’s when he noticed two men in the crowd. “You people are nodding like...
Divisions of Labor? Reports of Heated Debate on Parks Sales Tax.
Is there a split among city labor organizations over Measure P, the 3/8 of a cent sales tax initiative for parks that Fresno voters will decide next month? A mini-debate broke out at a recent city labor function, that multiple sources told GV Wire became heated. The Coalition of Organized...
Mangano Says Prosecutor Experience is Ticket to the Bench
Robert Mangano hopes to parlay his 15 years working in the prosecutor’s office to working on the other side of the courtroom bench. He is running for Fresno County Superior Court judge against Brent Woodward. Mangano sat down for a GV Wire Take 5 video interview to talk about his...
With FPOA Endorsement, Wilson Says He’s Best for Judge
When it comes to judicial races, it is common to find law enforcement groups supporting a candidate from the district attorney’s office. But Roger Wilson, a Fresno defense attorney who often represents law-enforcement clients, won the nod of the Fresno Police Officers’ Association. Wilson’s opponent for the open Fresno County Superior...