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Bakersfield Police Corruption Scandal Could Have Wide Impact

City of Bakersfield
Former Bakersfield Police Detectives Damacio Diaz (left) and Patrick Mara (right) are at the center of a police corruption and drug scandal

A drug and corruption scandal has rocked the Bakersfield Police Department. Former narcotics detective Damacio Diaz has accepted a plea deal in connection with federal charges that could send him to prison for life. Now that he’s cooperating with authorities, he has allegedly implicated others in the department, including his former partner on the force, Patrick Mara, who has also reportedly accepted a plea deal.

The scandal has raised a number of questions. Does the corruption extend further into the department? And is it something that could jeopardize convictions in cases where Diaz and Mara testified? Steven Mayer of The Bakersfield Californian joined us on Valley Edition to talk about the cases and what it means for the future of the Bakersfield Police Department. 

Joe Moore is the President and General Manager of KVPR / Valley Public Radio. He has led the station through major programming changes, the launch of KVPR Classical and the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership the station was named California Non-Profit of the Year by Senator Melissa Hurtado (2019), and won a National Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting (2022).