FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – With Fresno Unified School District teachers expected to strike next week, Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama says they are taking a proactive approach to the situation so they can be ready.
“We have actually been preparing for several weeks now since we found out there may be a strike,” said Balderrama. “We do have a strong operations plan we do have 33 student resource officers who are assigned to the schools so there’s that element of safety there.”
The police chief says they’ve been in contact with both FUSD reps and union reps and so far their biggest concern will be the traffic.
“We want the kids at the schools to also feel safe we believe this is going to be accomplished simply because we are not expecting any type of violence or civil unrest or anything like that,” he said.
Balderrama says the strike will not affect response times either.
“There are a lot of things going on. We have the strikes, the unrest, and then we have a typical weekend in Fresno,” he said. “So all of those things are going to spread us a little bit, but we believe we have adequate staffing to be successful.”
