Fresno’s new police chief makes a strong first impression — and communication is key
Paco Balderrama gave several good answers, in both English and Spanish, during his Tuesday introduction as Fresno’s next police chief.
One that stood out to me was more of a personal statement. After thanking everyone in the proper order — God, family, the Fresno leaders and citizens involved in his hiring and Oklahoma City, where he spent the last 22 years rising through the ranks — Balderrama declared himself “excited” and “humbled” by the opportunity.
Then he said this:
“I don’t know anybody else’s experience, but my experience is that the higher you go, the smaller you feel. You feel this small because you feel the pressure of the responsibility and the people’s lives that are affected by your decisions. That’s something that I take very, very seriously.”
Those words have very little to do with Balderrama’s policing philosophy but a lot to do with his leadership philosophy. They bode well for how the 44-year-old will tackle the significant challenges that await him in his new job.
Balderrama made a favorable first impression, even through the limitations of a video conference made necessary by COVID-19 protocols. While he spoke, I jotted down “serious,” “sincere” and “clear spoken.” This was not his first time standing at a podium fielding questions, a skill set that will serve Balderrama well should he follow the highly visible footsteps of Mayor-elect and longtime chief Jerry Dyer.
Dyer and current Mayor Lee Brand both noted Balderrama becoming Fresno’s first Hispanic police chief, which in itself is significant. But skin tone, in this case, is only a surface issue. The native of El Paso, Texas, was raised by a single mother in a poor neighborhood where gangs were prevalent. He understands better than most the circumstances that steer so many youths off the straight and narrow. Because he personally overcame them.
“I try to be the best person I can, the best professional that I can,” Balderrama said. “And and if I happen to be a Latino, well, that’s good for the Latino community.”
Balderrama, whose first day is Jan. 11, comes to Fresno at a time when police departments across the country face unprecedented public scrutiny — including his. Just last month, the City Council voted to adopt a report by the Fresno Police Reform Commission containing 73 recommendations. (Each is subject to further review and council debate before being implemented.)
Police reform in Fresno
Balderrama said he followed the commission’s online meetings, reviewed the final report and agreed with several of its findings, including having social-service agencies handle responses involving the homeless and mental health.
“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.”
On other recommendations, such as removing police officers from schools, Balderrama demurred by citing school shootings and the need to keep guns off campuses.
And yet …
“A school resource officer’s mission should not be to make arrests for petty crimes or have mass arrests inside the school,” Balderrama said. “It should be to build trust between police and youth, No. 1, and No. 2, to make the school safe.”
Asked how he would address fears by Blacks that they are targeted by cops, Balderrama employed words like “accountability” and “community engagement” while acknowledging those fears as valid.
This struck me as noteworthy since the first step in any difficult conversation is the willingness to have it.
“A lot of people who don’t believe in (the fear) will downplay it. They’ll say statistically speaking the chances of you being shot by a police officer are very low. And that is true. Those chances are very low. But it doesn’t change the fear that is very real,” he said.
“For African-American parents to have to have the talk with their kids. ‘If you get pulled over, make sure you don’t do blank’ because they’re literally afraid something’s going to happen to their child, it’s very sad and it shouldn’t be that way.”
Dyer’s nod of approval
As Balderrama responded to questions, Dyer could be seen standing in the background nodding his masked head — never more so than when Fresno’s new police chief used the phrase “One Fresno.”
I’m pretty sure that wasn’t by accident.
That Dyer, in collaboration with Brand and City Manager Wilma Quan, would choose an outsider to lead the Fresno Police Department at this crucial juncture seems purposeful as well.
Many observers, including Dyer’s most vocal detractors, assumed an internal candidate (such as Deputy Chief Mark Salazar) would get the nod. The department has so many skeletons in the closet, their reasoning goes, there’s no way he’d risk an outsider coming in and exposing them to daylight.
Well, so much for that theory. I can’t see Balderrama, with his strong bearing and impressive tenure in Oklahoma City where he was seemingly being groomed to be that city’s future police chief, as anyone’s puppet.
Furthermore, Balderrama overcame tough competition. Compared to 16 months ago, when Dyer passed the baton to Andy Hall in a move that continues to mystify, the reported pool of semifinalists this time around was significantly more impressive.
“It’s like night and day,” one city official said.
First impressions only count for so much, but Balderrama made a strong one.
