Between the local daily newspaper and postings here and
there in the social media, as well as e-mails to constituents from local
elected officials, it seems that there is an air of giddy-ness about all the
new hires in the Chico Police Department. With all of this chatter, I’m
surprised that one Council member in particular isn’t gloating about his prior
assertion that the Chico Police Department doesn’t need to recruit. One could
easily pick up on all that is being said and quickly develop the sense that all
is now OK with public safety in Chico.
Unfortunately, all is not ok. There is still a long way to
go. Consider the following:
1.
In approximately 2007/2008/2009, the Chico
Police Department had 102 police officers. Although there is not a State or
National standard for police staffing, there is an annual survey done by the
FBI which compares police staffing throughout the Nation based upon a
consistent standard of police personnel per 1000 population. Under that
comparison standard, cities the size of Chico (50,000 – 100,000) had an average
of 1.3 officers per thousand population. During this period, Chico had between .85 and .99 officers per
1000 (or between 7 and 11 officers LESS that what was necessary to be
considered average). Anybody who knows anything about policing (for the record,
Juanita Sumner, Michael Jones, and Randall Stone do not) would quickly point
out that Chico IS NOT AVERAGE when it comes to the myriad of issues this
community wants and expects its police force to address. Nor is it average when
it comes to the number of incidents and calls for service in comparison to
other cities of similar size – Chico has much, much more going on. With this
thought, although to be average would have been nice, Chico had a clear need to
be above average in relation to police staffing.
2.
2009ish began a reduction in police officer
staffing in CPD that eventually took the Department to an authorized strength
of only 82 officers – a 20% reduction in sworn staffing (there were additional
reductions in non-sworn staffing), and an eventual actual strength of much less.
By FY 14-15, Chico was at .92 officers/1000, or 32 officers less than what
would be needed to make the Department rise up to the level of average based on
the increased population of the City.
3.
The impact of the police reductions became
readily apparent. Crime rose (as predicted by many), and anti-social behavior
took a stronghold in Downtown. It was no longer possible for the police to
respond or help in any way with low level, quality of life type community
problems. Citizens became angry and frustrated. Meanwhile, uncertainty about
the fiscal position of the City continued. Even though the Police Department
was authorized 82 officers, City leadership allowed the level to drop woefully
below that number. As people who know about policing spoke to the numbers of
officers needed, they were criticized by those who don’t know and dismissed the
comparison standard used by the FBI.
4.
The political persuasion of the majority of our
elected leaders finally changed, and they did in fact quickly make bolstering
the PD a priority, but there is a lot of ground to cover. With the multitude of
new hires described in the recent Chico ER news story and editorial, the
Department is still only authorized has 87 police officer positions, 85 of
which are filled…
a.
Of the 85 filled, as of this week, 10 are in
various stages of their 6 month training program. This means, in effect, that
they cannot and are not considered as solo police officers – not until they
complete training. Between the 10, they have anywhere from one week to six full
months before they will finish their training.
b.
4 officers are currently attending the police
academy at Butte College. They have 1 month of the academy left before they
will begin their 6 month field training program. In a best case scenario, these
officers will not be ready to solo until around Christmas 2015.
c.
2 officers are off on long-term medical leave
right now, but this changes day to day. On any given Monday morning there can
be 2-3 additional officers off with injuries. Whether and when the two who are
currently off is not known and cannot be predicted.
d.
Again, there are 2 current vacancies.
5.
With the foregoing in mind, it should be noted
in summary, that as of today Chico effectively has only 69 officers (from the
Chief on down) to provide 24/7 coverage and protection to the City of Chico and
it’s visitors who take the actual daily population thousands of people more
than the recently reported population of 89,614ish. That is, 87 minus the 10 in
training, minus the 4 in the academy, minus the 2 on medical leave, and minus
the 2 vacancies.
6.
Ya, its exciting that cops are finally being
hired….but Chico is nowhere near where they need to be to get out of the woods.
Thank our elected officials for getting cops hired, but don’t rest easy and
return to ignoring the CPD or taking it for granted. Don’t direct your
attention away from the additional needs of the Department and our community. CPD
will not be in a position to serve and please all the masters until at least
that point in time that they return to their highest past staffing level. Its
great to see that groups like Clean and Safe assert a plan for getting staffing
up to where it should be, but the bottom line and truth is that the PD already
had a staffing plan, and has for years….they just didn’t have support from
appointed or elected leadership, there was no money and they were not a
priority until crisis stage was reached.
Stay vigilant Chico. Be involved, and be vocal. Do not stop.
You want a cop to address the issue of stolen bikes downtown? You want a cop to
conduct an investigation related to the iphone that was stolen from your car?
You want the cops to help address and resolve the issues with the homeless in
Downtown? You want CPD to respond to crimes and conduct investigations? Well,
sorry….even with all the recent hiring, there
just aren’t enough officers (and it will still be months before the
ones that are hired right now will even be ready to function as solo officers).
The CPD is doing the best they can with the minimal staffing they have. The
recent hires are only token compared to the needs and demands. If the Council
maintains its current momentum, we may eventually get to where we need to be in
the next half dozen years or so….but its still all about how much money is
available. And apparently, it is taboo in this City to talk seriously about the
expeditious generation of new revenue to support the police. So just be patient…
Until the police can be what this community wants and needs,
what can you do? Lock your doors. Eliminate opportunities for crooks. Be a good
witness, and be willing to call the cops when you think there is a need to do
so (don’t feel like you are burdening them – they still need to be called). Get
to know your neighbors. Watch out for each other. Buy and install a video
recording system at your home or business. Attend a Council meeting, and make
sure your elected official know that you want adequate police staffing to be a
priority. Support your police, and be patient with them – they did not choose
to be understaffed – again, they are doing the best they can with what they
got!
