A California police chief was reportedly caught carrying on a nearly 2 1/2-year affair with the wife of one of his cops — leading the department's union to say its members felt "betrayed" and had lost their trust in him.
The scandal forced Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama, a married father of three, to send officers an email that said his actions "did not meet the standards of who I am as a man of faith, husband, or father," local TV station KFSN reported Tuesday.
City officials last week revealed that Balderrama, 47, was under internal investigation after telling Mayor Jerry Dyer and City Manager Georgeanne White in February about what was described as an alleged "inappropriate off-duty relationship he was involved in with a non-city employee."
The Fresno Police Officers' Association responded with a statement that said the department's cops "feel betrayed, and trust has been lost" between them and the chief, according to local TV stations KSEE and KGPE.
The statement also said the city's acknowledgment of the situation left out "the most critical component of the investigation, and that is the nature of the relationship itself."
The union didn't elaborate but the San Joaquin Valley Sun reported Monday that the affair involved the wife of a Fresno cop and began in August 2021, citing a statement it received from the officer, who it didn't identify.
The affair didn't end until the cop learned about it in late 2023, the Sun said, adding that the officer and his lawyers reported it to the city attorney in February.
The next day, Balderrama acknowledged the relationship to city officials but allegedly downplayed it as comprising a single encounter, the Sun said, citing law enforcement sources.
The investigation into the chief centers on a decision he made to keep the officer assigned to patrol duties so the cop would have to work on weekends, which is when Balderrama typically engaged in the affair with his wife, the Sun said.
In his Monday email, Balderrama said, "I own my mistakes, they are mine and mine alone to bear, and I will pay for those mistakes for the rest of my life," according to KFSN.
The police union has reportedly scheduled an emergency board meeting on Wednesday to discuss the matter.
