THE COMMUNITY

The City of Fresno, California is located in the fertile San Joaquin Valley. From the agricultural fields on the valley floor, to the snowcapped peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the Fresno area offers something for everyone. With a population of more than 530,000 residents, Fresno is the fifth-largest city in California, the 34th largest city in the country and serves as the financial, industrial, trade, and commercial capital of the central San Joaquin Valley.

Fresno is approximately four hours north of the Los Angeles basin and three hours south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Residents and visitors enjoy Fresno’s proximity to the Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks and other sites of natural beauty, such as the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. The Mediterranean climate in Fresno allows year-round recreational activities including sailing, snow and water skiing, fishing, backpacking, and golfing, to name a few.

Many consider Fresno to be a community of the perfect size, offering the best of urban amenities and opportunities, along with the unique charms and easy living of a smaller town. Residents enjoy a wide variety of social, cultural, athletic, educational, and recreational activities in an affordable and clean living environment.

The Fresno area offers four large school districts, Fresno Unified, Central Unified, Sanger Unified, and Clovis Unified. The community is the home of California State University, Fresno, as well as a number of other colleges and universities. The current median home price in Fresno is approximately $258,000.

CITY GOVERNMENT

Fresno is a full-service charter city operating under a strong mayor form of government. There are seven Council Members who represent respective districts and are limited to two consecutive four-year terms. The Council appoints the City Attorney and the City Clerk. The Mayor is elected at-large and does not serve on the Council, but has veto power over certain actions taken by the City Council. Upon taking office in January 2017, Mayor Lee Brand declared four key initiatives for Fresno: economic prosperity, public safety, quality of life, and community unification.  Mayor Lee Brand did not seek re-election in 2020, and the City’s Mayor-elect Jerry Dyer will assume office on January 4, 2021. Mayor-elect Dyer previously served as the Fresno Police Chief for 18 years prior to being elected in the March 2020 Primary.    

The City Manager, who is appointed by the Mayor, is responsible for appointing all other department heads in the City, including Airports, Planning and Development, Finance, Fire, Information Services, Parks, After School, Recreation and Community Services, Personnel Services, Public Utilities, Public Works and Transportation.

FRESNO POLICE DEPARTMENT

The Fresno Police Department (FPD) is dedicated to maintaining and continuously building community support through relationships of trust, implementing community policing strategies that have an impact in each unique neighborhood, improving the delivery of police services and ensuring the safety of the public. Consistent with the Mayor’s initiative of enhancing public safety and the Mayor-elect’s vision of uniting the community as One Fresno, FPD staff and volunteers are focused on the mission of enhancing safety, service and trust with our community, which serves as FPD’s foundation for success in serving this large and diverse city. 

There are four Divisions under the Chief’s Office: Investigations, Support, Patrol and Administrative. The Investigations Division has four Bureaus: Family Justice, Special Investigations, Street Violence and MAGEC (MultiAgency Gang Enforcement Consortium). The Support Division has two Bureaus: Communications/Data Analysis and Special Operations. The Patrol Division has nine Bureaus, which include the Southwest, Southeast, Central, Northeast and Northwest Policing Districts, Field Lieutenants, Real Time Crime Center, Duty Office/Crime View and Student Resource Officers. The Administrative Division has seven Bureaus: Personnel, Attorney/Civil Litigation, Fiscal Affairs, Regional Training Center, Grants, Employee Services and Internal Affairs. Within the Divisions and Bureaus, there are many other specialty units that are organized to address specific crime and crime prevention efforts.

FPD is supported by a total of 1,128 positions (836 sworn and 292 civilian) and a FY 2020 adopted budget of more than $200 million for all activities. In addition, FPD also has Reserve Officers, Chaplaincy Volunteers, Citizens on Patrol and a variety of other volunteers.

The Office of Independent Review is located in the City Manager’s Office and works to strengthen community trust in the Fresno Police Department by providing neutral, third-party review of police policies, procedures, strategies, and internal investigations.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

Mayor Lee Brand and Mayor-elect Jerry Dyer are collaborating in this very important and key search for the next Police Chief.  They believe that Fresno will find a dynamic, innovative, results-oriented, principled professional who values the uniqueness of individuals and who will provide strong supportive leadership that will focus on continued mission-driven improvement with the best interests of our diverse community at the forefront.  The ideal candidate will have the strength of character and experience to be supported by the Mayor, City Manager, City Council, sworn Police Officers, civilian staff and the community.  

The ideal candidate will be a contemporary leader with deep roots in community policing. They will have an impressive reputation for building and maintaining community trust and productive partnerships that serve to enhance public safety and peacekeeping. Working collaboratively with the community, the new Chief must be capable of building and expanding upon the existing foundation of community policing in a manner that strengthens and expands relationships and neighborhood resiliency. Further, this policing professional must be committed to transparency and proactively communicating with the public on an ongoing basis. A high energy leader with extraordinary capacity to manage competing priorities, while maintaining an unbreakable connection to the community, is necessary to succeed as Fresno’s Police Chief.

The ideal candidate will be an accessible, exceptional and engaging communicator who knows how to balance a strong command presence while being approachable.  A professional who has remained grounded throughout their career advancement by never losing touch with lower ranks of a department or with community leaders will be expected. In addition, it will be important for the new Chief to demonstrate a relentless commitment to the training and development of staff, particularly for those on the front lines with an emphasis on implicit bias training, de-escalation and the delivery of safe and effective service. The individual selected will possess impressive experience serving at higher ranks with the demonstrated ability to lead and inspire a multigenerational workforce. They will have a history of developing and maximizing the talent in their department and be dedicated to developing future generations of leaders at all ranks. A track record that reflects adhering to superior standards and holding others accountable to such standards is paramount. To that end, a passion for quality law enforcement services, continuous improvement and genuine dedication to the City of Fresno will also be expected.

The ideal candidate will be well-versed in best practices and technological advances in the profession that have large agency relevancy. They will have the ability to ensure that FPD remains on the forefront of implementing tools and strategies that enhance departmental efficiency and best serve the community. Guided by a public servant heart and uncompromising integrity, this law enforcement leader must also possess strong business acumen, along with a history of being a good steward of public funds and resources.

It is imperative that the selected candidate understand that the City of Fresno is ethnically and culturally diverse and rich, yet economically challenged with deep pockets of poverty. Fresno’s next Police Chief will need to build and maintain trust with community members regardless of a person’s zip code, income, ethnicity, faith or age.

While being a very visible leader it is necessary and expected that the selected candidate be an impartial and apolitical advocate for responsive policing with parallel emphasis on community safety and building trust. The selected candidate must also understand the importance of mental health services substance abuse counseling and transitional housing in order to effectively address the challenges of homelessness within the community, while remaining open to a variety of solutions and new approaches that will be more impactful and lead to more positive long-term outcomes.

To be given consideration for this position, candidates must possess at a minimum a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, Police Science, Public Administration, or a closely related field from an accredited college or university and ten years of increasingly responsible law enforcement experience, in a management capacity, preferably in a large metropolitan law enforcement department of similar complexity. Familiarity with the strong mayor form of government and/or experience serving a large diverse community is preferred. A Master’s degree in Criminal Justice, Political Science, Public Administration or closely related field, Executive Level Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Certificate, and successful completion of the FBI National Academy, Police Executive Leadership Institute (PELI) or Senior Management Institute for Policing (SMIP) are desirable. Possession and continued maintenance of a valid California Driver’s License is required for the entire term of employment in this job class, and possession of a California Post Management certificate or equivalent from a State other than California is also required.

This is an unclassified position in which the incumbent serves at the will of the City Manager.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The City of Fresno offers an attractive and competitive salary and benefits package. The hiring range for this position is up to $233,664; placement within the range will be depending upon qualifications and experience. In addition, the selected candidate will receive an additional 9% for possession of a POST Management certificate. The employee benefits package includes, but is not limited to: 

• Retirement: Fresno City Retirement System; reciprocity with other public California systems. The City’s pension funds are among the best funded public systems in California. The employee contribution is 12%. The City does not participate in Social Security.
• Health Insurance: City currently contributes toward the current monthly premium for medical, dental, and vision for employee and dependents.
• Uniform Allowance: $1,500 per year.
• Flexible Spending Account: IRS 125 Plan for health/dependent care.
• Deferred Compensation: 457 plan available.
• Management Leave: 90 hours per fiscal year.
• Vacation: Accrues at the rate of 17.167 hours per month with cash out provision upon separation from the City.
• Sick Leave: Accrues at the rate of 8 hours per month.
• Holidays: Accrues at the rate of 8 2/3 hours per month with a cap of 96 hours.
• Life Insurance: Policy of $150,000 with the premium paid by City.
• Long-Term Disability: City pays premium for 66.66% of monthly salary up to $7,500 per month after 30 days.

Additional information regarding the City of Fresno is available at www.fresno.gov.

APPLICATION & SELECTION PROCESS

The closing date for this recruitment is midnight on Thursday, August 6, 2020. To be considered for this opportunity, please submit a letter of interest, resume and five professional references to:

US Mail: Sandra Chavez Martin, Human Resources Manager 

City of Fresno

2600 Fresno Street, Room 1030

Fresno, California 93721

Email: sandra.chavezmartin@fresno.gov

EOE 

Following the closing date, resumes will be screened in relation to the criteria outlined in this brochure. Candidates deemed to be the best qualified will be invited to interview in Fresno in September. The City Manager anticipates making an appointment shortly thereafter, following the completion of negotiations and California POST compliant background and reference checks. Please note that references will not be contacted until the end of the process and, at that time, will be done in close coordination with the candidate impacted.