Fresno taps Oklahoma City law enforcement veteran to be city’s first Hispanic police chief
Mayor Lee Brand on Tuesday introduced Paco Balderrama as Fresno’s next chief of police, the city’s 22nd.
Brand, Mayor-elect Jerry Dyer and City Manager Wilma Quan held a virtual news conference to introduce the new hire, who comes to Fresno from Oklahoma City. He’s been in that department for 22 years and served most recently as a deputy chief.
He begins in Fresno on Jan. 11, and will be the city’s first Hispanic police chief, Brand said. He will make $220,000 annually with the standard benefits.
Speaking during Tuesday’s hearing, Balderrama mentioned the numerous problems facing law enforcement in general, ranging from COVID-19 to questions about how law enforcement relates with citizens.
“With the vision with the resolve of one Fresno, I think we can come together and work as a team and come up with solutions for these problems,” Balderrama said Tuesday.
The 44-year-old will replace Chief Andy Hall, who must retire early next year because of the police department’s retirement policy. Hall will retire four days after Balderrama is sworn, according got city officials.
The last chief to come from outside the city was Joseph Samuels, who was hired in 1991 and left two years later, according to officials.
Brand said Balderrama fits the model that many residents have requested.
“It’s been clear from the start that Fresno wants a chief who can make changes, build trust and increase safety for all of out residents,” he said. “As I said many times, the selection of our next police chief will be the single most important decision that we make.”
Dyer said hiring someone from outside the department could be a benefit. “I do believe on occasion it is good to bring in a fresh set of eyes,” Dyer said.
The top three candidates included Balderrama, a candidate from Texas and a candidate from within Fresno Police Department, Dyer said.
Balderrama’s bio on the Oklahoma City Police Department web page says he earned his master’s degree in criminal justice administration from the University of Central Oklahoma and graduated from the FBI National Academy in 2017.
He’s held multiple roles in the Oklahoma City department including patrol officer, field training officer, public information officer and a member of the tactical team. He also speaks Spanish, and took multiple questions in the language from Spanish-speaking reporters during Tuesday’s news conference.
Balderrama said he had looked at the makeup of Fresno and assumed the city had already had a chief of Hispanic decent, noting he only learned recently he’d be the first.
“I don’t want to downplay it. It is a big deal,” he said. “It is a great honor. It is a great responsibility. My last name is not my last name. It’s one that I borrowed from my mom. My job is to keep that name untarnished and to give it honor.”
The new chief said he has been reviewing the 73 recommendations made by the commission on police reform in October. He said some of them are clearly necessary while others need further review.
“I think for too many years we’ve relied too much on police,” he said. “We’ve given police officers tasks that really they had no business doing, but there was nobody else to call.”
The recommendations cover police policy including when it comes to deadly use of force, response to nonviolent calls for service, hiring and recruitment, contracting with school districts and a slew of other topics.
Hall was named in August 2019 following the retirement of Chief Jerry Dyer, who is now the mayor-elect. Dyer was forced into retirement by the same program that will send Hall to retirement.
Some Fresno residents were displeased with the search for a new chief in 2019, saying it lacked transparency.
Hall said he may have had second thoughts taking the job if he’d known the year to come would be so difficult. The year has seen responses to the coronavirus as well as civil unrest related to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“It’s been a privilege to serve this community for over 40 years and an honor to lead this agency as the chief of police,” Hall said.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 2:04 PM.
