Jerry Dyer

Jerry Dyer
Jerry Dyer
	Dyer in 2021
26th Mayor of Fresno
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; January 5, 2021
Preceded by	Lee Brand
21st Chief of Police of Fresno
	In office; August 1, 2001 – October 16, 2019
Mayor	Alan Autry; Ashley Swearengin; Lee Brand
Preceded by	Ed Winchester
Succeeded by	Andy Hall
Personal details
Born	May 3, 1959 (age 65); Fresno, California, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Diane Gonzales (m. 1980)
Education	California State University, Fresno (BS); California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (MS)

Jerry P. Dyer (born May 3, 1959) is an American politician and former law enforcement officer. He is the 26th and current mayor of Fresno, California. Previously, he served as the chief of the Fresno Police Department.

Life and career

Dyer was born in Fresno to Donald Dyer and Anna Rackley on May 3, 1959. The Dyers relocated to Fowler, California, in 1964. He attended and graduated from Fowler High School in 1977. While in high school, Dyer played on the varsity football, baseball, and basketball teams. After high school, Dyer joined the College of the Sequoias police officer training academy and was sworn in as an officer of the Fresno Police Department on May 1, 1979, under then Police Chief George K. Hansen. Later his father and sister, Diana, would join Jerry in at the Fresno Police Department with his father previously serving in the Madera County Sheriffs Department. He served as a police officer in the Fresno Police Department for 22 years while rising through the ranks before being named chief of police in 2001.^[1]

In 1985, Dyer was alleged to be involved in an extra-marital relationship with a 16 year old minor.^[2] The accusations were never made public, and internal investigations led to no criminal charges against Dyer. According to an anonymous police source, Dyer admitted to having sex with the minor. In a 2001 Fresno Bee interview, Dyer refused to talk about the allegations, replying, “All I can tell you is that the relationships that I have had outside of my marriage, when I was a young man, have been dealt with. ... God’s forgiven me. My wife’s forgiven me. This department’s forgiven me and looked into a lot of things in my past.”^[3]

In 2001, deputy chiefs Robert Nevarez and Sharon Shaffer^[4] filed a lawsuit against Dyer. He was accused of creating a hostile work environment in the Fresno Police Department through making several racially and sexually insensitive comments. Fresno City Hall settled the lawsuit, paying $200,000 collectively to Nevarez and Shaffer.^[5] Dyer also was questioned by the media for neglectful supervision of his chief deputy who was convicted in 2017 of conspiring to distribute heroin and marijuana of which Dyer claimed he was unaware.^[4]

Dyer served as police chief for 18 years. He ran in the March 2020 election to succeed Lee Brand as mayor. He received a majority of the vote, bypassing the need for a runoff election.^[6] Dyer is the second former Fresno police chief to run for mayor and be elected after Mayor Truman G. Hart.

Dyer and his wife, Diane, have two children.^[1]

Electoral history

2020 Fresno mayoral election^[7]
Candidate	Votes	%
Jerry Dyer	50,914	51.56
Andrew Janz	39,430	39.93
Floyd D. Harris Jr.	2,262	2.29
Bill Gates	2,262	2.29
Richard B. Renteria	2,076	2.10
Nicolas Wildstar	1,284	1.30
Brian E. Jefferson	510	0.5
Total votes	98,738	100
Voter turnout	39.38%

References

^ ^a ^b The Fresno Bee (subscription required)
^ The Fresno Bee editorial board (2019). "Did Jerry Dyer have sex with underage teen? Fresno voters deserve to know". The Fresno Bee.
^ Hoagland, Doug (2019). "From The Fresno Bee archive, 2001: Cops twice probed allegation Dyer had affair with girl, 16". The Fresno Bee.
^ ^a ^b Beale, Andrew (March 29, 2019). "The Chief: The Remarkable — Sometimes Shocking — Career of Fresno's Top Cop". KQED. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
^ Robert Nevarez and Sharon Shaffer v. City of Fresno; Jerry Dyer, Simpson, Alan 08CECG01962 (Civil 2008-06-09).
^ The Fresno Bee (subscription required)
^ "Results of the March 3, 2020 Presidential Primary Election | County of Fresno". www.co.fresno.ca.us. Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters. Archived from the original on May 27, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020.

External links

Appearances on C-SPAN

Political offices
Preceded by Lee Brand	Mayor of Fresno 2021–present	Incumbent

[archive-1] The Fresno Bee (subscription required)

[2] The Fresno Bee editorial board (2019). "Did Jerry Dyer have sex with underage teen? Fresno voters deserve to know". The Fresno Bee.

[3] Hoagland, Doug (2019). "From The Fresno Bee archive, 2001: Cops twice probed allegation Dyer had affair with girl, 16". The Fresno Bee.

[:0-4] Beale, Andrew (March 29, 2019). "The Chief: The Remarkable — Sometimes Shocking — Career of Fresno's Top Cop". KQED. Retrieved November 10, 2020.

[5] Robert Nevarez and Sharon Shaffer v. City of Fresno; Jerry Dyer, Simpson, Alan 08CECG01962 (Civil 2008-06-09).

[6] The Fresno Bee (subscription required)

[7] "Results of the March 3, 2020 Presidential Primary Election | County of Fresno". www.co.fresno.ca.us. Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters. Archived from the original on May 27, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2020.

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