WASCO, Calif. (KERO) — The City of Wasco hasn't had its own police force since 1981, but that's changing rapidly, and the newly-created Wasco Police Department is becoming more functional day by day.
Roughly 8 months after the Wasco City Council approved a plan to create a city police department, Wasco Chief of Police Charlie Fivecoat says progress is happening faster than they anticipated.
"We've studied all the startup agencies that have been in California over the past 10 years. On average, it takes 18 months to 2 years to stand up a police department," said Fivecoat. "We are at the 6-month mark and we're about 80 percent there, so we're doing remarkably well. I think we have been blessed on many levels and the project is moving much quicker than we thought it was going to move."
Fivecoat, who was hired as police chief in December of 2022, says one of the areas WPD has made progress is in acquiring department vehicles.
"Probably the big thing for us was cars. There are some agencies that have waited as long as 2 years for new automobiles. We were fortunate that we were able to find a source, and by the time we order and the time we have them on the street has been about 4 months," said Fivecoat.
Now WPD is gearing up to start recruiting. On Tuesday, the Wasco City Council approved pay scales and benefits schedules for Wasco City Police officers.
"I'm trying to start up with a minimum of 14 officers to start," said Fivecoat. "The ultimate goal for the agency is 23 commissioned officers and 7 non-commissioned dispatchers."
Fivecoat says the WPD expects to start recruiting within the next 30 days, but it may be difficult right now, as police agencies around Kern County are dealing with staffing shortages.
"I think it is a universal problem right now as far as recruitment, but I think some of the things that you do is you start recruitment, you get the officers involved with the community, you have them become part of the community, and you develop a synergy within an organization," said Fivecoat. "You can attract officers into this organization because they see the community is supportive."
Wasco Vice Mayor Alex Garcia says anyone around the county who is interested should apply for a job with the Wasco PD, but he believes that for Wasco residents especially, it's a great opportunity to serve their community.
"The thing that is most important is to recruit locals that are familiar with our community, familiar with our neighborhoods, know how to communicate and work well with our residents, and most importantly, people who have a passion for services," said Garcia. "People who care about working with people."
Garcia added that the city manager was recently approved to hire a psychologist so they can properly vet all WPD applicants.
As the WPD takes shape, the city is still contracting policing services through the Kern County Sheriff's Office, but the time when the city's police will be ready to make that shift is closer than ever, and Garcia credits Chief Fivecoat's leadership as one of the reasons the department is making such swift progress.
"Chief Fivecoat is already well-respected in the public safety community here in Kern County. He's been able to leverage a lot of those relationships, not only here but regionally, to make sure we are in a really good place to get started and start successfully," said Garcia.
Fivecoat says one of the benefits of starting a department from the ground up like he's had the opportunity to do in Wasco is having control over the culture that gets instilled into that department, and in his department, Fivecoat says it's community first.
"We work for the citizens of the community and we are here to provide service for them. We are here to protect the people that are vulnerable in the community," said Fivecoat. "That they know they can trust us to do the right thing, that's what we have to work on."
