Fresno commission on police reform finalized its report. What happens now?
Fresno’s commission on police reform adopted its final report nearly unanimously on Thursday evening, leaving it up to the City Council to weigh the 73 recommendations.
The 40-member commission voted 31-1 to approve the report with several people absent from the meeting in which commission chairperson Oliver Baines choked back tears in his final words on the report.
Baines, who is Black, said he has long struggled with his own experiences of police brutality and then his time as a Fresno police officer, which was complicated again after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police went public.
“This was an emotional ride for me for a lot of reasons,” Baines said.
“So many times in Fresno, we don’t think we deserve stuff. We deserve the best policing department in the county right here in Fresno,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that came across.”
The recommendations cover police policy when it comes to deadly use of force, response to nonviolent calls for service, hiring and recruiting, contracting with school districts and a slew of other topics.
The report is expected to go before the City Council, which gets the final say on whether to adopt them, as soon as Thursday. Council President Miguel Arias left room for the report to be presented next month if more preparation is needed.
He said the City Council has been following the meetings of the commission. “We have been preparing on a parallel process to make sure we can fund some of these recommendations,” he said.
Along with approving a $1.5 billion budget for the city on Thursday, the council earmarked $1 million for efforts related to the recommendations of the commission.
“Ultimately, policing in America, policing in California and Fresno, it’s about choosing and selecting the kind of policing (people) want and the kind of policing that makes everyone feel safe,” Arias said. “Not just a handful of folks.”
Police union
At the same time, the council approved $210 million for the police department, which is a year-to-year increase of about $10 million. Police funding had been a topic of contention as it often is, but the calls for defunding police were intensified this year after the public death of Floyd and other events that followed.
The only “no” vote on the report on Thursday came from Todd Fraizer, the president of the Fresno Police Officers Association. He said he took issue with some of the report’s findings on use-of-force, the citizens oversight board and efforts to restrict the budget, among other things.
The recommendation for a citizens oversight board would include up to 13 people appointed by the mayor to oversee law enforcement, including the Office of Independent Review.
“I’m not against proper oversight, just appointing people to the oversight board that have no experience in policing overseeing police officers in general,” Fraizer said. “I have a problem with that.”
He said he’s also concerned about restricting use-of-force, saying any changes must be fair and not jeopardize the safety of officers.
“We’re not public guardians. We’re law enforcement,” Fraizer said. “Our job and primary function is to investigate and enforce the laws of the city.”
He said he looks forward to meeting with the City Council and Mayor’s Office to further discuss the recommendations.
Widespread support
Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, said he has kept updated on the commission, speaking with Baines often. The congressman co-sponsored the federal George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, which failed to pass after it reached the Senate.
“This is going all throughout the country and I think it’s a reflection of the community’s desire to add the kind of community-based policing that reflects our needs,” Costa said.
The commission was formed following a May 31 protest near City Hall, organized by D’Aungillique Jackson, a commission member and president of the Fresno State National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
A subcommittee headed by Jackson surveyed residents and found more than 40% said they “never” or “only sometimes” trust the Fresno Police Department. The report said trust is a major issue in the community.
“This process has shown me that this community does not want to abolish the police,” Jackson said. “But they want to abolish the policing tactics that hurt them rather than serve them.”
Mayor-elect Jerry Dyer has said he will take the commission’s recommendations seriously, but said Thursday some of the recommendations may need to be refined.
“In terms of the final report, I thought it was very, very comprehensive,” he said. “On a personal note, I wish there had been a few more highlights in terms of the success of the department in that report.”
Commission vice chairperson Sandra Celedon, the executive director of Fresno Building Healthy Communities, said while the commission did good work on its report and recommendations it remains unclear if they’ll stand.
“I’m still yet to hear a commitment from the people who have the power in this city to say we are going to do it,” she said. “To say we’re going to create safety and we’re going to do that by changing the way we do business.”
