Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer has contract extended to 2019

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The pressure continues to mount on Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer after 15-and-a-half years on the job, which included a recession, but Dyer said he still has some unfinished business to take care of.

"Now we have an opportunity to be able to rebuild this police department and to be able to add additional officers and equipment and facilities, and I want to be a part of that."

A meeting with Fresno Mayor Lee Brand convinced Dyer he was making the right choice. The department has begun the process of relocating both the Southeast Fresno sub-station and the Northwest sub-station into new facilities with more room to work.

"Our facilities are really deplorable," Dyer said.

A centralized property and evidence room has been in the works for over a decade. Chief Dyer said evidence and emergency vehicles will be moved into a new warehouse in the next few months.

"We have about 28 different storage facilities that we use through Derrel's Mini Storage, as well as other places where we have to book our evidence and retain it."

Chief Dyer's contract extension will take him through October of 2019.

Chief Dyer said Mayor Brand would like to increase the police force to over 1,000 officers over the next eight years.