Chico cops get an ‘F’

Campaign Zero—an activist organization working to address police violence “by limiting police interventions, improving community interactions, and ensuring accountability”—just published a Police Scorecard with grades for California police departments. Chico got an “F,” scoring only 34 percent and ranking a lowly 92 out of the 100 most populous municipalities in the state. Carlsbad had the highest score, at 90 percent—the only “A”—while Beverly Hills was the worst of the bunch at 20 percent. All told, 78 of the police departments received an “F.” Department grades were based on data from 2016-17 on a range of factors, including police violence (four deadly force incidents in Chico—including two fatalities—25 complaints of police misconduct), police accountability, approaches to policing (87 percent of Chico’s arrests in 2016 were for low-level misdemeanors or drug offenses) and department policies (they don’t ban choke holds or shooting at moving vehicles, nor do they require de-escalation). Data was collected from official databases (including the California Justice Department’s Open Justice site) and via public records requests to police departments.

For the full report, go to policescorecard.org/?city=chico