{"id":237733,"date":"2026-03-26T16:14:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/237733\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T16:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:14:13","slug":"fresno-residents-raise-alarm-about-police-auditor-going-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/237733\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno residents raise alarm about police auditor going dark"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\tWhat’s at stake:<\/p>\n

Ever since John Gliatta retired in August, Fresno\u2019s Office of Independent Review has stopped publishing quarterly reports that audits the Fresno Police Department. For nine months, the Fresno public has been deprived of an independent auditor dedicated to reviewing police misconduct, evaluating whether internal investigations were completed properly and ensuring complaints about the police are investigated thoroughly.<\/p>\n

Text<\/p>\n

\"\"Fresno Deputy Police Chief Burke Farrah speaks to community members at the Fresno Police Department\u2019s first community engagement meeting on the military equipment in its possession. Even though a four-year-old state law requires those meetings to be held annually, Wednesday\u2019s meeting was the first time the Fresno Police Department hosted one. Omar Rashad | Fresnoland<\/p>\n

Fresno\u2019s independent police auditor in charge of issuing quarterly reports hasn\u2019t released a single one in nine months.<\/p>\n

That appears to coincide with John Gliatta\u2019s retirement last August. The former FBI agent held the top role at Fresno\u2019s Office of Independent Review since former Mayor Lee Brand hired him in 2017<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The independent police auditor\u2019s vacancy not only means the Office of Independent Review has been without a leader for the past nine months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also means the Fresno public has been deprived of an independent auditor tasked with reviewing Fresno police shootings, complaints about police officers \u2014 including allegations of excessive force \u2014 as well as evaluating whether internal affairs investigations are completed thoroughly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The span of nine months would normally mean at least three new quarterly reports from the Office of Independent Review.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The sudden halt in those quarterly reports became public knowledge thanks to longtime local civil rights activist Gloria Hernandez, who spoke up Wednesday night during the Fresno Police Department\u2019s first ever community engagement meeting regarding military equipment<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The subject came up when Deputy Police Chief Burke Farrah corrected a member of the public\u2019s statement about investigations into complaints made against Fresno police officers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe publish reports quarterly that document the action we take when it comes to disciplining our officers in each one of those cases,\u201d Farrah said, referring to the 200 complaints made against police officers in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About 15 minutes later, Hernandez got a chance to speak. Among her remarks, she fact-checked Farrah\u2019s comment about those quarterly reports.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou keep talking about transparency and accountability,\u201d Hernandez said at the Wednesday community meeting. \u201cI have not read the independent police auditors reports since the second quarter of 2025. So where is the transparency?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe OIR (Office of Independent Review) is currently \u2014 the position is vacant. The city\u2019s looking to fill it,\u201d Farrah replied. \u201cOur (Fresno Police Department) procedures remain the same, as far as what we report. Whether that person catches up on their work that\u2019s done on the back end or not, I don\u2019t know. But our policies remain the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Office of Independent Review hasn\u2019t exactly dodged controversy over the last few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back in 2020, Gliatta revealed to a civilian commission on policing that he deliberately sat on a report looking into a Fresno police officer accused of using excessive force on a teenager.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even though the report was completed in May 2020, Gliatta said he delayed its release because \u201cemotions were running rampant\u201d following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He drew heavy criticism from the community<\/a> for his actions while some councilmembers defended it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After seven months since Gliatta\u2019s retirement, it\u2019s unclear how soon Fresno could get its next independent police auditor. City Hall spokesperson Sontaya Rose could not immediately be reached for comment early Thursday.<\/p>\n

After the Wednesday meeting, Hernandez told Fresnoland it\u2019s a serious issue that the Office of Independent Review hasn\u2019t released its quarterly reports in nine months. She added that the California Attorney General should look into why no replacement has been identified to the public yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Attorney General is interested in reviewing the civilian reviews and auditors throughout the state, I think Fresno is lacking,\u201d Hernandez told Fresnoland. \u201cI think the Attorney General should be looking into why we haven\u2019t hired somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"At various points of the March 25 community engagement meeting, community members held up signs when they heard something that wasn\u2019t true, or when the police leadership present wasn\u2019t answering questions directly. Omar Rashad | Fresnoland\"\"At various points of the March 25 community engagement meeting, community members held up signs when they heard something that wasn\u2019t true, or when the police leadership present wasn\u2019t answering questions directly. Omar Rashad | Fresnoland<\/p>\n

Will city leaders address community concerns about military equipment?<\/p>\n

Just about 20 community members attended Wednesday\u2019s community meeting on military equipment<\/a>. It was the first time in Fresno history that the police department hosted one, even though a four-year-old state law known as AB 481<\/a> requires an annual community engagement meeting<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the main asks from community members Wednesday evening was to delay the approval of the Fresno Police Department\u2019s annual military equipment use report since advocates said it was missing details required by state law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Fresno City Council will have to make that decision at Thursday\u2019s council meeting, which takes place at 9 a.m., less than 24 hours after Wednesday\u2019s community engagement meeting. As of Wednesday evening, the item was still slated for approval on the March 26 city council meeting\u2019s consent agenda.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Farrah fielded most concerns and questions from community members. While he at times gave general apologies to those in attendance, and said the Fresno Police Department\u2019s community engagement on military equipment could be improved, he didn\u2019t make specific commitments to revisions or changes advocated for by those in attendance Wednesday.<\/p>\n

However, Farrah did say he\u2019d take community feedback to Chief Mindy Casto and the Fresno City Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the meeting, Farrah said the reason why the Fresno Police Department had never before held an annual community engagement meeting regarding the military equipment in its possession is because of a longstanding legal interpretation from the Fresno City Attorney\u2019s Office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know in the past there\u2019s been some concerns about why haven\u2019t we had these meetings before, and I\u2019ve shared these concerns,\u201d Farrah said. \u201cAfter last year, we were told by our city attorney that the city council meeting was sufficient, because it had offered dialogue, opportunity for people to comment.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least half of those in attendance Wednesday were members of Fresnans for a People\u2019s Budget<\/a>, a group of local residents who\u2019ve come together for about a year to find ways to reallocate taxpayer money for community care and needs, as well as reduce police spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A few of the group\u2019s members brought up specific state law compliance issues in the Fresno Police Department\u2019s annual military equipment use report. According to AB 481, the annual report is supposed to list personnel and training costs for each military equipment item.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fresno\u2019s report doesn\u2019t do that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Several community members aired concerns about that, and Farrah pushed them on what exactly they were asking for.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we define that accounting, should I include my vision, medical benefits, my vacation, the cost of this building, the cost of electricity here \u2014 at what point do you stop?\u201d Farrah asked.<\/p>\n

One community member said the amount of money spent on training police officers to use specialized military equipment shouldn\u2019t be a challenging thing to calculate and include in the annual report \u2014 which is once again required by state law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that hard,\u201d the community member said. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to make it complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Towards the end of their exchange, Farrah said he would like to \u201ctake a look at that for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, in the meeting, Fresno resident Arieana Castellanos \u2014 who has been airing concerns about police transparency for more than a year \u2014 pointed out that it\u2019s not too late to make revisions to the police department\u2019s annual military equipment use report for 2025, as it hasn\u2019t yet been adopted by the Fresno City Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to clarify that personnel (cost) is required by the law, and it\u2019s not been approved by city council yet, so we can still revise it,\u201d Castellanos said. \u201cThere\u2019s no need to wait until next year. You have an opportunity to do the right thing this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castellanos added that the annual military equipment use report was in need of revision because it doesn\u2019t state or summarize how military equipment is actually used by police officers \u2014 another requirement in state law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Farrah said the annual report already includes a summary of that information, even though it does not explain or generally describe how the military equipment was specifically used by officers in prior years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s what we\u2019re kind of getting into semantics here,\u201d Farrah said. \u201cSo if I tell you how each and every use is used, then that\u2019s not a summary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another community member questioned the process of the Fresno City Council approving the annual military equipment report every year, considering required details in the report, as required by state law, are missing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of seems like you guys put what you want on paper, you pass it off, and they (city councilmembers) just put a stamp of approval,\u201d the community member said. \u201cEven though we have these meetings, we raised some concerns and they\u2019re still not going to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farrah said it was the first time Fresno police held a community engagement meeting on military equipment, and thanked those in attendance Wednesday for educating him on their concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019ve fallen short, then we\u2019ll take that comment back to our team and we will do better,\u201d Farrah said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why we\u2019re in this meeting today, because people last year said, \u2018No, we need a meeting,\u2019 and here we are. So we\u2019re making progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the Wednesday meeting, Castellanos said there were positives that came out of the community engagement meeting, and that there\u2019s more to get done.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the win is that there is a dialogue here when there was previously none,\u201d Castellanos told Fresnoland. \u201cI think that is really meaningful to people in the coalition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Fresno police used Milkor launchers 16 times in 2025, according to the police department\u2019s 2025 report on military equipment use. The report does not explain how or why the launcher was used last year \u2014 a requirement under state law. <\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

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