Article Spotlights Police Department’s Community Outreach Efforts

A new article by The Washington Post is putting Fresno in the spotlight, but in a good way.

The story is entitled "In Fresno, Police Focus on Building Relationships, Not Making Arrests." It shows how the department works to build community trust.

"We rely heavily on a positive relationship especially in Southwest Fresno, but in all of our neighborhoods," Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.

Dyer says for the past 12 years, his department has been trying to break down barriers between officers and community members through programs like The Bringing Broken Neighborhoods Back To Life Initiative, which started in 2003.

"To restore or bring back some of those neighborhoods that had been left behind," Dyer said.

The initiative involves local pastors who help plan summer events every Saturday night.

"Where we actually block off the street, bring out a stage, bring in a praise band, ‘Men of Promise,’ we have social service providers that come out," Dyer said.

Dyer says it’s just one of the ways they try to build community trust with the police force.

"It lets them see us in a different light, and let us see them in a different light," Dyer said.

And he says with the community’s help, solving crimes becomes a much easier task.

"Number one, to provide us with information that helps us to solve cases, but we also rely on them to give us permission to police their neighborhoods," Dyer said.

And the efforts are paying off. Since 2003, Fresno has seen a more than 30 percent decrease in assaults or robberies involving a gun, many of them gang related.

And even though the department has had it’s setbacks, like the recent arrest of Deputy Chief Foster, Fresno residents still commend the department’s efforts and say they do notice a difference.

"You need that trust factor, you do. And it makes you feel securer, safer," local resident Cheryl Deis said.

"Every police officer that goes out and risks there lives for us, definitely makes a difference," local resident Beth Davis said.