Fresno Mayor Dyer wants to add police, start new housing program in proposed budget
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer presented his proposed $1.727 billion budget on Wednesday that would increase the number of police on the street and in schools as well as implement a new housing effort.
Dyer said his 2022-23 budget would add 37 police officers and 24 firefighters, bringing those totals to 888 and 371, respectively. That’s an all-time high for the number of officers, he said.
Thirteen officers would also be placed back onto middle school campuses, he said, a plan that goes against the Commission on Police Reform’s recommendation.
The proposal also highlighted a $40 million “One Fresno Housing Strategy,” which would include efforts like tiny homes for people who live on the street and help for residents who are trying to buy a home, he said.
“I can promise you that the dollars we have, we’re going to make sure they’re used in a way that meets the needs of our community,” he said.
The city would add officers back to the FAX bus system, put officers in a bicycle unit downtown and develop a team aimed at targeting street racing.
The addition to the Fresno Fire Department would bring the daily number of firefighters on the clock to 103, which is up from 85 two years ago, according to Dyer. They would also staff a fourth medical unit.
Those new police and firefighters would be accompanied by five more 911 dispatchers, the proposal says.
Police Chief Paco Balderrama said the city had pulled officers from local middle schools to focus on violent crime, but he wanted to put them back on campuses in the coming year.
The Commission on Police Reform in 2020 recommended the police department end all its contracts with schools, arguing that not all students find the sight of an officer calming. Advocates argue having cops on campus increases the chances that everyday incidents could lead to an arrest, and puts those arrested students on a “school to prison pipeline.”
Balderrama said he has never supported removing school resource officers, which he and the mayor referred to Wednesday as “student resource officers.”
“I’ve never thought it was a good idea,” he said. “Our student resource officers are at the school for two reasons: To keep the kids safe, and to build trust between the police department and those students.”
Balderrama pointed to the Tuesday mass shooting of 19 children and two adults at a school in Uvalde, Texas, as an example of why officers were needed on campuses.
An armed officer was on campus when the shooter arrived and exchanged gunfire, but did not stop the shooter from barricading himself in a classroom and killing those inside.
One Fresno Housing Strategy
Dyer said his No. 1 priority in the budget was housing.
“My fiscal year ’23 budget provides the largest investment in housing in the history of Fresno,” he said. “This will not only help us to meet our short-term housing needs, but to provide long-term housing stability.”
The $40 million comes from American Rescue Act funds.
Dyer said pre-fabricated homes for emergency and transitional shelter could be part of the plan as well as increasing the number of families who can own homes.
Other plans in the budget:
- $74.8 million of Measure P money for parks
$2.7 million for improvements to Chukchansi Park
- $1.7 million to beautify business and transit corridors
- $300,000 to beautify downtown
- $300,000 for special events
Dyer tested positive for COVID on Friday, his spokesperson Sontaya Rose noted. She said he followed Cal-OSHA and city policies in waiting at least five days to return to work Tuesday and tested negative on Wednesday.
The plan will be presented to Fresno City Council on Thursday.
This story was originally published May 25, 2022 at 12:59 PM.
