A question that has long simmered among Bakersfield’s policy and opinion makers will likely be sent to the voters for an answer.
On Wednesday, the Bakersfield City Council will consider allowing voters to decide whether the city’s police and fire chiefs can be selected from outside the two departments. The Bakersfield city charter currently states the police and fire chiefs must be picked from within their respective departments, severely limiting the number of people who qualify for the jobs.
But, the stipulated agreement between the city of Bakersfield and the California Department of Justice requires the city to pose the question of allowing outside recruitment of the police chief to voters. Reached after a yearslong investigation into alleged civil rights violations, the agreement allows the city to avoid a DOJ lawsuit if certain conditions are met.
Charter amendments may only occur after a vote of the public, and on Wednesday, the City Council will discuss placing both police and fire chief recruitment on the November ballot. Such a question has never before been asked of the public since the current policy was enshrined in the charter in 1931.
“It’s really out of our hands at this point because we entered into the stipulation with the Department of Justice that we would allow for candidates outside of the department,” said Bakersfield City Councilman Chris Parlier. “It’s not about necessarily hiring from somebody outside the police department, it just gives the flexibility to open the candidate pool.”
Advocates have long argued that changes to the charter are necessary to modernize the document that acts as the constitution for the city. The charter was first written in 1914 and has not been updated since the 1980s.
Among the reforms being called for are the expansion of the recruiting pool for the police chief, a performance audit to judge the city’s investments and increased resources for the mayor, who represents the city at the state level.
The police chief is seen as one of the more pressing updates needed for the charter.
“In a changing world — and I think anybody agrees that we’re in a changing world, especially with police — you are bringing people up through the ladder that only know one way, the Bakersfield way,” Michael Turnipseed, executive director of the Kern County Taxpayers Association, said in a phone interview with The Californian. “I’m not necessarily saying that’s bad. I’m not necessarily saying it’s good. But I think there are other ways out there, there are other very successful police departments in the country that operate in a different way.”
The police chief is hired directly by the city manager. Under the city charter, the Police Civil Service Commission forwards the top three candidates to the manager for a decision.
“We have great people within our organization as a whole,” Parlier said. “If you’re the top candidate, I don’t think you should necessarily be scared of another candidate coming from outside. Because if you’re the best, you’re still going to be selected.”
The city has more leeway when it comes to placing a charter amendment related to the fire chief on the ballot as that stipulation was not included in the DOJ agreement. Still, the city has prepared to put both issues before the voters.
The city is not currently recruiting for either job.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correctly describe the stipulated agreement between Bakersfield and the Department of Justice.