Officer Made Demands Over Fresno Police Chief’s Affair With Wife. Were They Legal?
The Fresno Bee reports that police officer Jordan Wamhoff’s attempt to gain concessions from the city over Fresno Chief Paco Balderrama’s affair with his wife does not rise to the level of extortion or appear to cross legal lines. John Pelissero, Ethics Center director, government ethics, weighed in.
“You have a leader of the police department who’s violated his oath of office and engaged in inappropriate behavior with one of his subordinates’ spouses,” he said in a phone interview with The Bee. “But the issue here, at the end of the day is really, who’s looking out for the public’s interest here rather than the private interest of the chief? He clearly put his personal interests ahead of serving the public here.”
John Pelissero, director, government ethics, quoted by The Fresno Bee (paywall) and republished by Yahoo News.