Four new officers were welcomed into the Chico Police Department Monday, as officials announced several new crime fighting initiatives.
The hiring comes as the department’s new chief, Mike O’Brien, acknowledged that his force has been less effective due to understaffing. He said it is time for the city to re-calibrate its approach to crime. It’s been lax.
“Accountability is not the enemy of compassion, in fact, they have to be joined at the hip,” O’Brien said. “We need both.”
O’Brien announced a resurrection of community policing efforts, with the re-establishment of a special detail to beef up patrols in hot spots and to proactively solve issues before they become intractable. O’Brien said regular patrol officers are generally too busy responding to incoming calls to get out in front crime trends.
Lt. Scott Zuschin will lead the unit, dubbed the Target Team.
“What we’re doing with the Target Team is really nothing new,” he said. “It’s been done here before and it’s based on the building blocks of what we do as police officers, and that is get out there in the community and solve problems.”
While saying the department is turning a corner, O’Brien said the public shouldn’t expect any overnight change. The special unit won’t be fully staffed for another year.
Officials also unveiled two initiatives hoping to boost efficiency and community engagement. The department is monitoring conversations and hoping to generate tips and leads from Nextdoor, a social media network.
Additionally, O’Brien said the department is creating a smartphone-based app that will enable the public to report crime, view neighborhood crime maps and conduct some administrative tasks such as registering bicycles via mobile device.