Editorial: Community policing model needs to give hope to victims
The Chico Police Department says it’s going to give “community-oriented policing” a try. Though it sounds promising, we can’t help but wonder if it’s more than just a trendy phrase.
The community policing model is all the rage, and new Police Chief Mike O’Brien is excited about giving it a whirl. He called it a “major change” last week when the department was restructuring in order to implement that community policing model.
Part of the problem was a shrinking workforce as the city budget took a nosedive. As the Police Department was reduced in size, management decided to discontinue many of the things that citizens value — downtown patrols, officers on high school campuses, traffic cops and so forth.
Worse yet, things like downtown crime, bicycle thefts and drug deals in City Plaza barely got the department’s attention.
The worst development of all was the advent of an online reporting system for crimes. If somebody would get a $2,000 bicycle stolen, $5,000 in electronics, or even a gun, victims were told to fill out a form online. In most instances, there was no interaction with a detective or officer. Victims would fill out the form and never hear from the department again.
The great online reporting tool was a black hole of information.
People undoubtedly stopped reporting crimes because it was a waste of their time. The only reason to fill out the form was if you were lucky enough to have insurance.
The message was obvious: Sorry, folks, you’re on your own.
The online reporting system started Jan. 1, 2013. Sure, it saves money, but we’ve yet to see evidence this supposed database of crimes is being used to solve them.
Since a new City Council majority took over in December, the department is growing again. That’s why some of the special enforcement teams, such as downtown patrols, have come back.
What really needs to happen, however, is for citizens to regain confidence that police can help crime victims. Even if the department doesn’t get rid of online reporting, human follow-up — just a call to let victims know the report was seen, and that officers are looking — would go a long way toward mollifying a skeptical public.
Catching a few of the thieves, and then publicly celebrating that success, wouldn’t hurt either. The department needs a few victories.
Chico Taxpayers Association 
Yes, as is generally the case the Enterprise Wretched is wrong.
LIttle and his crew are horrible. Same goes for the Snooze and Review.
The Snooze got it right on the “public safety” salaries and pensions and what rascals the past police chiefs have been (like double dipping what’s his name), but on just about everything else they are horrible. Even though the Snooze is free, it is still over priced.
I write letters to the editor to the Wretched and Snooze and they never publish any of them. And now they don’t even respond when I inquire why. When I point out what they don’t tell us and ask why they also don’t respond.
Same goes for the clowns on the city council. They no longer respond to me. And believe it or not I don’t call any of these people names (not even clowns), and I don’t refer to the Snooze as the Snooze or the Wretched as the Wretched in my correspondence. However, I am brutally honest with these people and tell them things they don’t want to hear. And they choose to stick their heads in the sand. They are all loathsome.
I was really surprised to read Dogtree’s latest column, she takes the words right out of my mouth. She’s complaining that the fired all the park staff and now the park has gone to hell. She’s a few years late, but I’m glad she’s on that.
They’re all we got. It’s like you say, we’re on the Titanic, and Bozo the Clown is the captain.
Or, actually, Mark Sorensen likes to think of himself as Mighty Mouse. As if.
I could have done without her going into details about her potty stop at the public rest room, especially the wiping.
She is a worshipper of monstrously big gummit and when it comes back to bite her in the ass (literally) she squeals like a stuck pig.
It’s like that with the Unaffordable No Care Act (aka Obammiecare).
But the Snooze is still unboard with it.
They’re all we got.
That’s what is so depressing.
I agree.