Parlier Police Chief David Cerda goes on leave, interim chief named

Parlier Police Chief David Cerda has been on leave since Wednesday, city manager Israel Lara Jr. said.

Lara declined to give an exact reason for Cerda’s leave, saying only that it was both a “personal and personnel” matter. He said that it was not a disciplinary action, nor was it the result of any criminal matter.

Drew Bessinger was named interim chief of police. He is a member of Fresno Yosemite Airport police and has taken a leave of absence from that job.

Bessinger took a similar leave of absence from March to December 2014 to serve as interim police chief in Kingsburg, replacing retired chief Jeff Dunn. Bessinger retired as a captain from the Clovis Police Department in 2009.

He declined to comment on why Cerda was on leave.

“I’ve taken over the role of the chief of police on an interim capacity until the city manager and city council make a further decision on the leadership of the department,” Bessinger said.

The announcement comes the same week that the Fresno Police Department completed an internal affairs investigation for the Parlier Police Department that was conducted over a month and a half.

Fresno police Lt. Joe Gomez said a detective from the department’s internal affairs section investigated allegations from the Parlier department against one of its officers in May. The investigation was concluded earlier this week, and its findings were reported to the Parlier Police Department.

Gomez said the Fresno Police Department could not release the findings of the investigation.

He said Fresno often handles internal affairs investigations for smaller departments, which lack the resources to conduct their own. The city of Parlier was billed for salary and benefits for the Fresno detective who worked the case.

Bessinger said he was aware of the investigation and the amount billed to Parlier, but he had not had the opportunity to read the full report in his first two days as chief.

Lara said he had no knowledge of the Fresno Police Department’s investigation or the bill submitted for the detective’s work. He said the internal affairs issue was not why Cerda was on leave.

He said he had only been city manager for about a year, and he is still trying to fix issues within the city of Parlier.

This story was originally published July 10, 2015 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Parlier Police Chief David Cerda goes on leave, interim chief named."