WASCO, Calif. (KERO) — Community-oriented policing is the method the new police chief for the city of Wasco wants to implement. A method he says goes back to the good old days.
Charlie Fivecoat is the chief of Wasco’s new police department.
Fivecoat has spent many years in law enforcement in Kern County and hopes to build a police department that, in his words, fairly represents and connects with the residents.
"I think the important thing is you have to be part of the community. You're only as good as the people you work for. And you work for the citizens of Wasco here so you need to go out and find out what they believe is the issue and based on that knowledge develop a strategy for how you're gonna deal with their crime problem.”
Chief Fivecoat says the lack of a police station was not always the case. Wasco’s police department was disbanded in 1981. Now more than forty years later, after setting up more staffing, the city will not have to depend on the Kern County Sheriff's Office as they do now.
Fivecoat says they have several positions left to fill. There isn't an exact timeframe for when the department will be fully up and running. He says that he had the choice of retirement or this new position and chose one more round of helping the community.
There weren't many Wasco residents who wanted to share their concerns about policing in the city on the record, but they talked about promises law enforcement had made in the past that were not fulfilled, and worries that the city council will prevent the new police department from being effective.
On the other side, many residents are unhappy with Kern County Sheriff's response times in the city, and feel that having a municipal police department dedicated to Wasco will help with that.
One resident who did speak up was Luis Quezada, a butcher at La Canasta Market in Wasco. The concern on his mind is a lack of fair treatment and standard of care when it comes to police.
"I don't call the police," said Quezada. "They won't do nothing to us, especially since we are Mexican. They won't do anything to help us."
Quezada agrees with the residents who say the sheriff's office's response time is not fast enough for emergencies. The slow response time may be a consequence of low staffing levels at KCSO, which was the original reason the City of Wasco decided to create its own police force.
"I lived in Wasco since I was 8 years old," said Quezada. I don't really see how it's going to affect anything, because they are just going to do the same thing over and over again."
Other Wasco residents share Quezda's skepticism, but the overall feeling in the community seems cautiously optimistic.
