Fresno crime rates fall, even as California sees a rise. Police chief says he knows why | Opinion

Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama was at a community event when a man came up to chat.

“We have got to do something about this crime problem,” the man told the chief.

Balderrama had a ready answer. Contrary to other cities in the state, Fresno’s main crime categories were down, he explained.

The man was stunned. How could that be, he wondered.

There are several answers.

First, the Fresnan is not alone in believing crime is a problem in California. A statewide survey done by the Public Policy Institute of California last November found that two in three residents see violence and street crime as a major problem in their community.

The survey also found that 60% of Republicans say crime has increased in the last year, compared to Democrats, with 60% of them saying it has remained the same.

To be sure, crime in California has become a regular talking point for Republican politicians. The state GOP organization just issued a news release with a section headlined “California Democrats’ Crime Crisis.”

The constant repeating of that message by conservatives has an effect over time.

But, in fact, in the last year crime has gone up statewide. Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, recently issued a yearly recap of crime in California. The 2022 report showed California’s violent crime rate increased by 6.1% since 2021, and property crime was up 6.2%. Homicides dipped slightly, but robberies jumped by 10.2%.

The trend is Fresno is different.

Fresno rates way down

I met with Balderrama in his downtown office, and he surprised me with the following numbers, comparing the period of Jan. 1 through July 11 of 2022 to the same time this year:

▪ Homicides: down 44%

▪ Rape: down 19.6%

▪ Robberies: down 10.8%

▪ Shootings: down 11.3%

▪ Commercial burglaries: down 45.6%

▪ Residential burglaries: down 29.3%

▪ Vehicle theft: down 25.8%

When it comes to murders, there were 34 over that period last year, compared to 19 this year.

The caveat to this is that those Fresno numbers are of a shorter time frame than what Bonta presented. Nonetheless, Fresno’s drops are big enough to get one’s attention.

So why is this happening here?

Officer hiring

Balderrama gave a one-word answer: Staffing. Fresno PD has more officers today than it has ever fielded.

The City Council has authorized the police department to have 900 officers, a record high. As of July 7, Balderrama said 860 of those positions were filled.

Add another 400 support staff and the department’s total is 1,300.

“In January 2021 when I came. we had 838 positions (budgeted) then, but had only 632 filled,” Balderrama said of officers. The COVID pandemic was still raging, “and over 100 officers were off (from illness). We were running the city with 530 cops.”

Short staffing becomes a problem when major crimes occur, he said. Whenever there is a murder, police have to set up what are known as outer and inner perimeters — the outer, to keep the curious at bay, and the inner one to protect the crime scene for investigators. All that takes staffing — Balderrama said a half dozen to 30 officers can be tied up at one shooting scene for more than half their shift, depending on the complexity of the scene.

Devoting that much staffing to one crime means those officers are not out on other calls, or are not being proactive at stopping problems from developing, he said.

“There are a lot of misconceptions going around the country saying more cops does not make a safer city,” Balderrama said. “That is not true. Since we have added, our crime rate has been significantly reduced. We can focus on certain violent groups, do more outreach, be on more beats. More people call us and give us information we can use to solve crimes.”

Budget impact

There is another number, however, that Fresnans need to know: $249.3 million. That is the police department’s share of the city’s general fund this year. Add another $12.4 million in grants, and the department’s budget is $261 million.

Police take up more than half of the general fund — 51.8%, said City Manager Georgeanne White. That same fund also has to support the fire department, planning, public works and other departments.

The police budget “reflects that the safety of our community members is the top priority for the city,” she said in an email.

Social-justice advocates in Fresno argue that if more emphasis was put on supporting residents who are at risk for committing crimes — be it by educational opportunities, job training, guaranteed basic income and the like — they could be directed away from wrongdoing, the police would have less to worry about and taxpayer dollars could be reallocated to supportive services.

Long-term, that is the right approach.

As it stands today, public safety has improved in Fresno. But that comes at a high cost.

Tad Weber

Opinion Contributor,

The Fresno Bee

Tad Weber is an opinion writer at The Fresno Bee.