‘Keep things stable’: Fresno’s interim police chief on taking over

FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – The Fresno Police Department officially has new leadership after former Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama resigned following an investigation surrounding his affair with an officer’s wife.

The department has named Deputy Chief Mindy Casto as their interim police chief.

“Nothing is more important than the protection of this community. People in this community deserve nothing less than a police department that’s efficient, that is compassionate, and that is out working to do the best that they can for this community to keep them safe,” Casto said during her first interview with our news team since accepting the position.

Casto says she knows she is taking on the job during a high-stakes moment for the department. She says she wants to be someone both officers and the general public can trust.

“This job is a pressure cooker,” she said. “Yeah, it’s a heavy burden. But again, this community’s been so good to me. It’s actually a privilege, and I’m very humbled by this opportunity.”

Casto started in the department as a police explorer and was hired in 1997. Over the years, she ultimately worked her way up through the ranks. Casto says despite the job’s difficulties, she is still inspired by policing every day.

Moving forward, she says she wants to continue the progress already made over the past few years to lower the homicide rate.

“I mean, we’re down 46% this week in shootings year to date from last year, and last year was an amazing year compared to the year before. We’re at 13 murders this year, same as last year, but an amazing reduction again from the year 2021 prior to that,” Casto said.

But even with those numbers trending down, she says too many people are dying on Fresno City roads.

“We have 13 murders this year. We have 30 traffic fatalities, the majority of which are pedestrian and bike-related,” she said.

Long-term, Casto says she is not sure if she will take over as Chief permanently, but she knows why she was chosen to lead right now.

“It’s my ability to keep things stable, you know, I’ve never been known to make decisions for my own self-interests,” she said.

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