The Bakersfield Police Department (BPD) is the agency responsible for law enforcement within the city of Bakersfield, California, United States. It has over 590 officers and professional staff, covering an area of serving an urban population of more than 400,000. The current chief of the department, since April 2020, is Greg Terry. The department protects the city, split between two areas and six zones with two stations, the main department headquarters and the west side substation. The department administration is made up of the chief of department, two assistant chiefs, four captains and eleven lieutenants.
The department headquarters is located at 1601 Truxtun Ave. The westside substation is located at 1301 Buena Vista Rd. The department shooting range is located on 3419 Truxtun Ave. with the K-9 training field next door to the range. The department training academy is located at 4646 California Avenue.
Mission statement "The Bakersfield Police Department partners with our community to protect the lives and property of the people we serve."
Guiding Values "Compassion • Accountability • Professionalism"
History Founding The Bakersfield Police Department traces its origin back to the incorporation of the City of Bakersfield in 1898. On January 13, 1898, the Bakersfield City council instituted the Bakersfield City Marshal's Office with Thomas A. Baker as its first Marshal. The police department was itself incorporated on February 27, 1915, with Jacob Horace Dupes as Chief of police. 1920-1960s Robert B. Powers was hired as a motorcycle patrolman in 1928. He became chief of police in 1933, and instituted a number of reforms and on-the-job training. His first major action was during the California Agricultural Strike of 1933. From May to October 1938 a murder case consumed his time - that of Mathias H. Warren, father of Earl Warren who was soon to be attorney general and then governor of California, and in time, Chief Justice of the United States. In June 1939 Powers supported an initiative to get women on the police force if they were college educated and paid well. On July 3, 1941, the Bakersfield Police Department accepted its first female officer with the hiring of Mary Holman Dodge. In 1944-5 Powers was appointed to a wartime state committee on law enforcement under then-governor Earl Warren. Powers was also a strong voice in determining successive chiefs through to 1966.
In 1968, the department accepted its first African-American into its ranks by the hiring of Irma Carson. 1970s-1990s In August 1973, the department established the Bomb Squad unit with one operator in order to deal with the emerging threat of explosive ordnance in the city. Today, the squad consists of five bomb detective technicians and two robots.
In June 1988, the department started its K-9 unit, consisting of five officers and 5 working dogs. On February 8, 1994, the Bakersfield Police Activities League was established for at risk youth in the city. In June 1999, the department made city history with the promotion of Eric L. Mattlock as the first African-American chief of police for Bakersfield.
2000-2009In July 2003, the BPD investigated one of Bakersfield's most heinous and high-profile crimes; The Harper family murders. The killing of two adults and three children in their own home sparked international media coverage and an investigation that would cross the entire United States.
The BPD was able to solve the case and make an arrest of one of the victims husband, Vincent Brothers. On May 15, 2007, Brothers was convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree. The conviction was due to the efforts of the investigations bureau of the Bakersfield Police Department.
On July 8, 2003, the Bakersfield Police Department started a School Resource Officer program by assigning a small detail to local city elementary schools.
2010-2019In April 2010, the BPD promoted its first female in the departments history to the rank of Captain with the promotion of Hajir Nuridin.
In 2013, BPD began the deactivation of their motorcycle traffic enforcement unit and by 2018 BPD had no motorcycle officers. The reason was the amount of injuries that were being incurred by motorcycle traffic enforcement officers who were involved in numerous traffic collisions. At the time, BPD became the largest law enforcement agency in the United States without an active Motorcycle Traffic Enforcement Unit.
In 2019, BPD announced their intention to bring back motorcycle officers in a pilot program starting with the purchase of 4 Harley-Davidson motorcycles at $107,542. The announcement noted that technology and safety gear had improved and that motorcycle officers are needed to step up traffic enforcement in response to an increase in rush hour crashes.
In August 2019, BPD restarted their solo police academy with the acquisition and refurbishment of a building on California Avenue and Easton Drive. Also in August 2019, BPD created a cold case sexual assault unit for investigating past crimes of sexual assault. This was formed after the department completed a mandatory audit of untested rape kits for the California Department of Justice, in which the BPD had to submit all untested kits. This was also formed due to California's elimination of the statute of limitations on sexual assault in 2017.
Criticism and Controversies
The Bakersfield Police Department has been criticized over the years for heavy-handed tactics and overuse of force. In recent years, complaints regarding excessive use of force, racial profiling, harassment, and response delays have been registered by criminals, suspects, witnesses, and affected family members.
In March 2001, Tony Eddington and Robert Johnson were stopped in the city of Bakersfield for a traffic violation and ordered to strip for a roadside search. The men, both African-American, contend the search was racially motivated, and sued the BPD for damages exceeding $350,000.00. The BPD settled out of court for an undisclosed sum and have since installed a permanent policy detailing rules on when officers may conduct strip searches in the field.
There have been many complaints against the BPD for excessive use of force. Most notably is when there is an officer involved shooting. Many critics of the department have made the charge of shooting first, asking questions later and firing too many rounds at suspects. A federal probe of the BPD was begun in July 2003. The probe would seek information and investigate some 47 complaints against the BPD for use of force and racial profiling. In January 2008, the United States Department of Justice cleared the Bakersfield Police Department of any wrongdoing stemming from the complaints.
On July 5, 2008, it was announced that the BPD will begin using polygraphs as a part of the hiring process to become an officer with the department. The BPD had resisted the concept for several years as other California agencies were introducing polygraphs into their background investigations of law enforcement new hires. The new policy will take effect in early 2009. As a result of polygraph examinations of candidates, several candidates that would have otherwise slipped through the cracks were found to be unsuitable and were separated from the hiring process.
In June 2009, the BPD began on-line crime reporting for citizens. This is the mandatory way for residents of Bakersfield to report non-emergency crime. The department, in the past, had on-line crime reporting, but this was optional. The department now requires all non-emergency crimes to be reported on the department website instead of having a Police Service Technician or Police Officer respond to a report call for service. This procedure allowed Officers to focus on preventing crimes by proactively patrolling their beats instead of writing insurance reports.Police get bluetooth fingerprint scanners, car-mounted license plate scanners to fight crime
In December 2015, the BPD was featured as one of the subjects of an article in United Kingdom's The Guardian newspaper, entitled "The County: The story of America's deadliest police". The article was an investigative report detailing how Kern County Law Enforcement agencies, including BPD, had high number of killings. In the article, it was reported that six people were killed by shots fired by BPD. The article reported a demographic disparity within the department, with 74% of BPD's sworn officers being White, 21% being Hispanic and 5% being African American. The article reported on Officers and their multiple shootings, Officers and their unethical behaviors, criminality within the agency, and officers committing crimes outside of work.
In December 2016, a BPD officer shot and killed a 73-year-old man Francisco Serna when he did not take his hand out of his pocket when ordered to do so. This was stemmed from a report by a neighbor saying he was pointing a gun at her. Later it was determined that the man did not possess a gun as the neighbor had reported. Serna was in the early stages of dementia and thus caused controversy along with the family demanding a federal investigation of the shooting.
Assignments
Sworn assignments Administration Auto Theft Unit Bomb Squad Civil Disturbance Team Computer Forensics Unit GHOST Unit (anti-graffiti) Homeland Security Unit IMPACT Unit (Homeless\Vagrant team) Internal Affairs Investigations K-9 Unit Narcotics Patrol Planning, Research & Training Public Information Officer Reserve Unit School Resource Officer Special Enforcement Unit (anti-gang) SWAT Traffic Vice Violent Crime Apprehension Team Warrant/Fugitive Unit (fugitive recovery)
Non-sworn assignments Animal Control Communication Center Community Relations Unit Crime Analysis Unit Crime Lab Digital Forensics Unit Parking Enforcement Police Service Technician Property Room Records and Reports
Volunteers Citizen Volunteer Explorer Post Police Chaplain Student Intern
Vehicles and equipment The Bakersfield Police Department employs the latest in uniforms, equipment and vehicles.
Uniforms and equipment The badge of the department is a gold-colored metal shield surmounted by an eagle, with blue enamel panels stating the name of department, rank of the holder, and badge number. In the center is an enameled seal of the State of California. This design, common in the Central Valley, is based on the 1923 Series 5 badge of the Los Angeles Police Department.
The current BPD basic patrol uniform consists of 5.11 brand B Class uniform in midnight navy blue. Current department policy mandates all patrol officers, senior officers, uniformed detectives, and sergeants have sewn on cloth department badge patches and embroidered names. Lieutenants, Captains and all chiefs are still allowed metal badges and name plates. Patrol officers working foot-beat patrol or bicycle patrol are authorized to wear navy blue polo shirts with the department badge embroidered and 5.11 Tactical shorts in midnight navy during hot weather conditions. K-9 officers also wear the 5.11 brand B Class uniform with K-9 designation embroidered on the uniform above the embroidered name of the officer. This brings all department patrol officers in line with the same uniforms. All officers in uniform or working field assignments wear Second Chance Level III-A body armor.
The BPD has established an alternate duty uniform for officers for training and other non-enforcement positions. This consists of a navy blue 5.11 Tactical polo shirt with embroidered department badge and name in gold, khaki 5.11 Tactical tactical pants and tan desert service boots. Cloth department badges and embroidered names are required on the polo shirts.