Several crimes decline or plateau in Chico in 2020
CHICO » In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Chico has seen crime drop in several areas and increase in a few others, at least through the first half of the calendar year.
Data collected by the Chico Police Department and published by a group called “Stand Up For Chico” reported on several types of crime, known as “part one” crimes, including aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, robbery, rape, arson and vehicle theft. The time period includes each quarter of 2018 and 2019 and the first two quarters of 2020.
Ina number of areas, the data appears to show a decline from 2018 to 2019 numbers continuing into the first half of 2020.
For example there were 347 burglaries reported in 2018 which then dropped to 285 in 2019. Through half of 2020, 123 burglaries have been reported, including 55 in quarter two, which is the second lowest of any figure dating back to the beginning 2018.
Larceny, which includes all thefts of personal property, stayed relatively similar be
tween 2018 ( 1,843) and 2019 (1,845), but is on pace to drop in 2020 with 867 reports through the first half of the year. The second quarter of 2020 (376) marked the lowest count of the last two-and-a-half years.
In the category of burglary, the number dropped from347 in 2018 to 285 in 2019, a decrease of 62 reported cases. There have been 123 so far in 2020, which would put Chico on track for another annual decrease.
Robbery stayed almost identical form 2018 and 2019, dropping from 108 to 107. In 2020, there have been 45 reported robberies, which so far illustrates a sharper decline from the previous two years.
As a whole, aggravated assault followed a similar trend between 2018 and 2019, when the number of reports dropped from 422 to 387. There have been 188 through the first half of 2020, though the number did increase between quarters from 87 to 101. If the pace stays the same, the 2020 figure would drop, albeit only slightly from 2019.
After Chico had a troubling increase in rapes from 2018 (98) to 2019 ( 111), the number so far through two quarters of 2020 is lower (35), though still prevalent.
There was one homicide each in 2018 and 2019. There have been two so far in 2020, one in each quarter.
Arson saw the most dramatic rise of any part one crime. There have been 15 cases of arson through the first half of 2020, more than the 14 cases reported in all of 2018. Nine arson cases were reported in quarter one, more than any quarter since the beginning of 2018. The number dropped to six in quarter two.
Outside of part one crimes, the Chico Police Department’s crime portal, which launched in 2019, has several other data visualizations from 2017 through part of 2020.
The “Calls For Service” graph showed a decrease from the first few months of the year to April, which marked the first full month of the state’s shelter- in- place order, which closed nonessential businesses and other operations. There were 3,985 calls for service in April where units arrived, marking the lowest of any month dating back to July 2017. Additionally, there were 3,028 calls handled by dispatch. This was the second lowest figure of any month — only November 2017 (2,905) was lower.