Thursday, May 7, 2015

Chico Police Department - The rest of the staffing story...

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!