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Fresno Police Chief: 'Cop Bashing' Making It Harder To Recruit

File Photo
Police Chief Jerry Dyer at a press conference earlier this year

The Chief of the Fresno Police department is asking for more help to fight a rising rate of some crimes in the city. Fresno Police chief Jerry Dyer says it is increasingly difficult to attract people to law enforcement.

Fresno Police Chief Dyer is asking for a bigger budget to hire up to forty more police officers to patrol the city’s streets.

The department may also double the signing bonus to $10,000 to lure more recruits.

Dyer says it has becoming increasingly difficult to find qualified officers citing a national mood against police officers.

“Just turn on your nightly news and look at the cop bashing across this country. And ask yourself, why would anyone want to become a police officer today and subject themselves to that kind of focus, scrutiny and criticism,” Dyer said.

Dyer says some crimes, such as murder, as down but others have seen a marked increase, such as robberies which are up 16%.

Chief Dyer also says they need more hiring on the civilian side of the department, especially in record keeping has a back log preventing the department from filing mandatory state and federal reports.

“And one of the reasons for that is our records bureau went from 75 personnel to 22,” Dyer said.

The proposed budget also has includes money for more cars and motorcycles and expanding the amount of days the helicopter is in use.

Jeffrey Hess is a reporter and Morning Edition news host for Valley Public Radio. Jeffrey was born and raised in a small town in rural southeast Ohio. After graduating from Otterbein University in Columbus, Ohio with a communications degree, Jeffrey embarked on a radio career. After brief stops at stations in Ohio and Texas, and not so brief stops in Florida and Mississippi, Jeffrey and his new wife Shivon are happy to be part Valley Public Radio.