It's hard not to notice the police cruisers and motorcycles sitting idle in the El Dorado Park neighborhood west of Fresno State. But come July first, these units will be gone.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer Said, "You start renegotiating leases, getting rid of leases. Maximizing your facility space."
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer is facing a $4.4 million budget shortfall. He says $65 thousand will be saved by moving his traffic division from this substation annex in Northeast Fresno to the city hall annex downtown.
Capt. Andy Hill said, "It's not going to be as convenient and we're going to be a little crowded, uncomfortable but everybody is kind of making it work."
Jerry Martin said, "You sleep with dogs, you get fleas."
Jerry Martin manages an apartment complex near the traffic division station. He says the police presence made it easy to attract good tenants, but that is going away.
"We've moved in families and college students now and it's hard. A lot of the reason is because of that. We just let them know there's a substation down the street. And now we can't tell them that," said Martin.
Chief Dyer has also had to make extreme cuts in other areas to even out the budget. The next fiscal year will see his department cutting 60 vacant officer positions. 53 civilian positions will also be eliminated.
Dyer says the civilian jobs were essential. For example, some gathered crime scene evidence, transported suspects to jail, and supervised suspects in hospitals. Those responsibilities will now be given to sworn officers.
Dyer says that means 13 fewer officers on patrol on any given day. But he insists public safety is still at the top of his list.
"Our priority is going to be life threatening calls, and then secondary it's going to be in progress type crimes," said Chief Dyer.
