“If you are working on a problem you can solve in your lifetime, you’re thinking too small.” Wes Jackson I have been blessed to spend time with some of our nation’s most prominent civil rights leaders— truly extraordinary people. When I listen to them tell their stories about how hard they fought to combat the issues of their day, how long it took them, and the fact that they never stopped fighting, it grounds me. Those extraordinary people worked at what they knew they would never finish in their lifetimes. I have come to understand that the historical arc of this country always bends toward progress. It doesn’t come without a fight, and it doesn’t come in a single lifetime. It is the job of each generation of leaders to run the race with truth, honor, and integrity, then hand the baton to the next generation to continue the fight. That is what our foremothers and forefathers did. It is what we must do, for we are at that moment in history yet again. We have been passed the baton, and our job is to stretch this work as far as we can and run as hard as we can, to then hand it off to the next generation because we can see their outstretched hands. This project has been deeply emotional for me. It brought me back to my youthful days in Los Angeles when I would be constantly harassed, handcuffed, searched at gunpoint - all illegal, but I don’t know that then. I can still feel the terror I felt every time I saw a police cruiser. I remember my dad telling me to never look at the police in the face because it would be deemed a challenge to authority. I was a young black man in this beautiful country, and I was terrified. I will never forget those moments. As present as those memories are for me, I also remember working as a Fresno police officer. I am proud that I was an officer with integrity, honor, respect, with a heart of service, and I was not alone. Those are the same qualities I remember best in my fellow police officers. My former colleagues chose this profession out of a sense of duty and honor to this community. Those women and men I worked with are some of the best people I have ever known, and I was honored to work alongside them. What I found in working on this project is that diametrical feelings can exist in one space and one person. One can feel legitimate terror about simply seeing a police officer and also feel true hopefulness about the help they can bring. I am that person filled with fear and hope – and I am not alone. The meetings, calls, emails, and text messages I have received from this community let me know our residents are also filled with fear and hope. Our community does not want to be at cross purposes with the Department. We are all hopeful that things can change, and we can come together. What is also true is that the vast majority of the women and men in that system are honorable people who want to serve this community, who chose this line of work to be of service. The same way the system has failed this community, it has failed them as well. The police officers in our Department have also been asking for change. I have received the same type of communications from our police officers. I can say from personal conversations with many current and former officers that it pains them deeply that the profession they have dedicated their lives to is seen as a harmful institution, and again they don’t want to be at cross purposes with their community. They also know change must occur. What I have learned is that we all want the same thing. I feel deeply honored to have been given the opportunity to serve on this project. The work has been therapeutic for me. I didn’t know it at the time, but when I got the call from Council President Arias, I was depressed about our country and the state we all found ourselves. The murder of George Floyd had deeply impacted me in ways Fresno Commission for Police Reform that I could not have imagined. Being able to do this work brought me out of that darkness. Being a part of the solution has fortified me, and for that, I am forever grateful to the Fresno City Council and Mayor Lee Brand for giving me this opportunity to serve yet again. I am honored to have served with members of this Commission who were thoughtful and steadfast in their approach. This City and I owe them a debt of gratitude for volunteering hundreds of hours to this project on behalf of all residents. Thanks also to the consultant staff. You all have been extraordinary partners in this project, and there is no way this could have been done without you. A special thanks to Sofia Cutler, who somehow managed to keep us all organized. I’m not sure how you did it but thank you. Personally, I thank Lillian Macias Weiland, who works every day to keep me on track, and did so during this project; I know she wanted to pull her hair out many times. Lillian, I know I can’t do the work of this community without you. Thank you for being my partner. To my fellow Fresno residents, I hope you will read this report and know the truth was told. The history of the institution is steeped in systemic racism and oppression, which unfortunately cause police and community to remain at odds, and at times make it seem impossible that we could come together. Over the 200-year history of American policing, while the people inside the system have changed, the system itself hasn’t. We must call out and acknowledge the truth that certain communities feel legitimate fear at the sight of police, or we will miss the opportunity to heal and reconcile. We must create an environment for our officers that encourages the service they want to provide to this same community that they love as much as the community members that live there. And above all, we must resist the urge to fall into the false choice of either “Pro Police” OR “Anti Police.” The choice is not, nor should it, be binary. We all want the same thing. The recommendations in this report do not represent the end. It is simply the beginning of the next iteration. As Commission members, we knew we would not get to everything, but we were committed to putting the proverbial bones on the frame, with the full understanding that the organs and flesh are still to come. Together we can create a system that provides our community with true safety and allows our officers to serve with honor, dignity, and integrity. Both can and should be true, and this Commission’s work represents the start of that process. This work is not done, but with the help of the community and those entrusted with the honor of leading, we must stretch ourselves further to create the community of safety we all deserve. All this work is in anticipation of the day we pass the baton to our children and grandchildren. Oliver Baines President and CEO Central Valley NMTC Fund, LLC Fresno Commission for Police Reform Residents want and deserve a Fresno where all people can thrive regardless of where they live, who they are, or how they look. Our city will not thrive unless Fresnans are safe. For too long, Fresnans have been calling for the transformation of our city. Fresno’s culture has long been entrenched in an antiquated ethos of punishment as a response to crime that fails to acknowledge that safety, or lack thereof, is rooted in our neighborhoods, our schools, our parks, our economic opportunities, and our social ties. We have spent decades pouring money into a system that relies on policing as a solution to most societal ills and which absorbs the bulk of our resources, with little results for everyday people. For centuries, communities of color across the country and in our beloved City have lived in fear of law enforcement. That fear is based on good reasoning - as described in the following report that shows policing in our society was birthed as a result of and for the oppression of Black people, workers, and immigrants. A system so deeply rooted in racism and oppression must be dismantled and replaced with one that is rooted in community, love, and transformative justice – the recommendations that follow should be used as the foundation for future efforts. Young people in our community have set the vision, and they will lead us into the Fresno of the future, a Fresno that I hope will be unrecognizable as we address the deeply-rooted issues that cause people of color to distrust the police, resent their deadly practices, and question if anything will truly ever change. As the vice-chair of the City of Fresno Commission on Police Reform, I am proud of the conversations we had and the recommendations we have introduced; however, we have only just begun. We must ensure the culture of our police Department is overhauled. We must never forget Isiah Murrietta-Golding, a 16-year-old boy shot in the back of the head by a Fresno police officer while another officer congratulated him.