BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Bakersfield's new police chief sat down with 23ABC to discuss budget challenges, community policing, and state oversight as he prepares to take the helm of the department. It was a follow-up interview from March 6th, when he was introduced as the next police chief.
Brent Stratton is taking over for Greg Terry, who is slated to retire at the end of April.
Stratton said he is focused on three goals: reducing gun violence, addressing interpersonal homicides and domestic violence, and improving street safety.
On the topic of budget constraints — a challenge facing many communities across the state — Stratton said the department is committed to responsible spending.
"There's never a shortage of challenges, but we always want to make sure that we're being efficient with our dollars and being as effective as we can. And so it's always a good exercise to be able to look at things top to bottom and be able to make sure that we're being good stewards of the money and taxpayer dollars that are coming in," Stratton said.
Stratton said budget questions also came up during his five rounds of interviews for the position.
"There were a lot of questions about a lot of different things going on within the department, and how you would be able to handle different budgetary things. What are some ideas that you have about being able to go forward? And so I think while there's some challenges, it's been a really great opportunity to be able to look at maybe some different ways of doing things," Stratton said.
City officials had stressed a desire to consider out-of-town candidates for the role, with City Manager Christian Clegg noting that nine people applied from outside the area. Stratton, a homegrown product of the department, said the emphasis on outside perspectives is something the department has already been embracing.
"I've been very involved with the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the California Association of Tactical Officers, and under Chief Terry's leadership, Assistant Chief Blake Moore's been to the FBI National Academy — some other high-level, executive-level thinking and education. So we really have worked to get outside of our walls for the last several years and make sure that what we're doing here in Bakersfield is best practices that are recognized across the state and across the country," Stratton said.
On community policing, Stratton said Bakersfield is uniquely positioned to lead.
"It's very rare that in communities, police departments have almost 100% of the people that live and work in the community where they police. So community policing is something that means something to us. We live here, we work here," Stratton said.
He said partnerships will be central to his approach.
"We can't do it without community partnerships. The police department knows, and I know, that we're not in a position to be able to solve every one of these problems, but we know that when we put our heads together and work with people in our community, the great organizations in our community, that we increase the likelihood of being able to solve problems in a long term manner," Stratton said.
Regarding state oversight and the department's monitoring report, Stratton said the process has made the department stronger.
"Being able to work with the monitoring group and with the Department of Justice has made our department better in a lot of different ways. We certainly don't always agree on everything, but we agree on where we want to go," Stratton said.
He said the department has changed significantly since the oversight process began.
"I think they would tell you that the department that they see in 2026 is not the department that they saw when this investigation started 10 years ago, with information from investigations 5 years before that. So we're talking 15 years ago with a lot of what has led us to be here today, but I'm very confident that they would tell you this is a good police department," Stratton said.
Looking ahead, Stratton said he wants residents to see the department as a partner.
"I want them to see our department as a place that cares about them, a place that's here to be able to serve, to be able to partner, to be able to protect, to be able to join and work together, to be able to impact public safety. I wanna be able to reduce crime, but I want to be able to increase the feeling of safety," Stratton said.
He said accountability and transparency will also be priorities.
"I know we're not always gonna get it right, but I want them to know that there are good people here who are trying, that our ears are open, that we're willing to listen, to be able to take feedback, criticism, to be able to course correct. And I want them to recognize the quality of the officers that they have — that there are brave men and women who are good people and good humans that are here who are trying to do the very best that they can to work to make our community better," Stratton said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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