Seasonal security

Red and green might be the traditional colors associated with the holiday season, but Chico business owners and city officials are hoping that adding a lot more black, white and blue to the downtown palette will help attract holiday shoppers.

At the direction of city management and behest of downtown business organizations, the Chico Police Department has been rolling out a plan to enhance its presence in the city center with foot and bike patrols over the past few weeks. Additionally, private armed security guards returned to downtown on Monday evening (Nov. 10).

The plan for beat cops to return to downtown was announced at an Oct. 7 press conference hosted by city officials and downtown business groups (see Newslines, “Spotlight hits downtown,” Oct. 9). Though it was implied the changes would go into effect immediately, some involved parties—including Chico Police Officers’ Association (the local police union) Vice President Rich Hartman—expressed concern over how the understaffed department would cover the shifts, as CPD officers already have to work mandatory overtime. Rumors of incentives were bandied about, with Mayor Scott Gruendl saying there was a possibility of offering double overtime for officers who take the shifts.

CPD Lt. Dave Britt explained the downtown patrols, which began about three weeks ago, were initially covered by shifting existing mandatory overtime hours to the patrol department, and the return of two injured officers since the plan began has helped alleviate the strain on manpower. With the reorganization, the downtown beat has become a regular assigned shift—generally filled by Officer Jim Parrott and another officer—from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with the possibility of expanding these patrols if more officers become available.

Chico Police Officer Peter Durfee and Parrott both said having officers on the downtown beat has other advantages, with the daily face-to-face patrols facilitating communication among business owners, law enforcement and the city’s homeless population.

“It’s not necessarily about enforcement all of the time,” said Durfee, who also serves as president of the CPOA, while working the downtown beat. “It’s just about having a presence, being seen and talking to people. If we can help somebody who is homeless, we have different programs to help people get off the street.”

Parrott noted that, when he was a rookie at the CPD, his regular assignment was on a bike downtown, but such positions were eliminated due to staffing shortages. He also said he was pulled from the CPD’s detective unit during last year’s holiday season to patrol downtown by bike.

Other than the issue of how to foot the bill for extra patrols, there were other details left vague at the Oct. 7 press conference. The thrust was that Clean and Safe Chico, the Chico Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Chico Business Association (DCBA) had together formulated a plan to address public safety concerns primarily caused by the “transient” element downtown, with part of the plan including the added police patrols, but little more was revealed.

It was unclear at that time whether the plan would involve bringing back private security guards from Armed Guard Private Protection Services to the region. Last year, a group of business owners called the R-Town Downtown Coalition hired the same armed private security outfit. This year, the rent-a-cops come courtesy of the DCBA.

The security firm’s Lt. Mike Morris acknowledged the DCBA contract, but referred any questions about how many units, what their duties will be and what times they will be on patrol to Melanie Bassett, executive director of the DCBA. Bassett did not return phone calls as of press time.

There is also some confusion about how long the CPD’s new downtown policing plan will be in effect. Durfee said CPD Chief Kirk Trostle wants the added patrols through the holiday season, while City Manager Mark Orme—whose directive prompted the patrols—said he believes the plan should last indefinitely. Britt confirmed the current staffing plan runs through January, when it will be re-evaluated based on staff availability.

“As far as I’m concerned, we’re going to do it until the situation has resolved itself to where we feel it needs to be,” Orme said. “I think there’s a strategic effort underway over the holidays, but we’ll continue to do it until it’s shown its worth and brought about a peace of mind in the downtown area.”