Sometimes in the movies, the good guys aren’t always so good, and the bad guys really aren’t all that bad. With that in mind, we move on to a mixed bag for “hits and misses” this week, and for a change, we’ll be presenting just one of each.
HIT — First up: The 2022 crime numbers in the city of Chico, as reported in the police department’s annual report.
By just about any objective measurement, the figures and trends should be celebrated as a good thing. Property crime was down a whopping 40% last year. Not only that, the 1,465 property crimes reported in 2022 were a 37% drop from the average number from 2018-21. That’s a big improvement over a remarkably long period of time.
Violent crime showed a slight decrease (2%) while robberies continued a five-year downward trend. There were 56 robberies reported in 2022; in 2018, there were more than twice that many. That’s also a huge reduction.
Of course, each of those statistics stands in stark contrast to the ongoing narratives in certain circles around town, especially on social media. Check any Facebook crime-monitoring group, and you’ll see dozens of “OMG! What happened to our town?!? Chico gets worse every day!” reactions to every reported incident. (Dare we say this sort of reaction may be the one crime-related activity in Chico that really does keep getting worse.)
On the other hand, let’s be realistic: Not every crime is being reported. Many people feel routine-type property crimes aren’t worth the hassle of filing reports because nothing will happen anyway. Community watch groups are becoming more common in many neighborhoods and communities as a result.
On yet another hand, let’s again note that none of this is unique to Chico. For all the keyboard warriors out there continuing the drumbeat of how “bad” it’s gotten here, Chico is not going through much of anything that isn’t happening all up and down our not-quite-so-golden state — and that includes the fact that not all crimes are being reported.
Overall, the drop in property crimes — which no doubt can be traced at least partially to things like camp cleanups and constructive relocations, more kids being back in school post-COVID and a drop in local enrollment at Chico State, which reduces the number of potential victims — is indeed a good thing. And it should be celebrated as such.
The rest of you may now resume your “It just keeps getting worse!” mantra.
MISS — In another bit of a good guy/bad guy conundrum, we take issue with some words spoken by City Councilor Tom van Overbeek earlier this week, while also noting we’re not surprised some people are applauding him — because he did point out a few uncomfortable facts along the way.
Van Overbeek stirred up quite a hornet’s nest when he said he’d like to “apologize to the (Cal Park hotel) developers for being tortured by our citizens.” That led to an understandable outburst from hotel opponents in the audience, the hostility growing to such a degree that Mayor Andrew Coolidge called for a recess.
In addition to a feeling of “Who did you get elected to serve, anyway?” the words struck us as a big slap in the face of citizens who had done nothing wrong other than put their freedom of speech rights to use by objecting to a development in their neighborhood — and, for the most part, they did so with an admirable degree of civility.
When asked to comment later, van Overbeek doubled down. And while doing so, well … many of his words actually made sense.
“Anytime you want to do anything in Chico, people manufacture reasons to get upset that don’t have anything to do with the reality,” he said, citing as an example a traffic study showing the intersection by the hotel site, Bruce Road at Sierra Sunrise Terrace, currently has 30,000 vehicles a day — and the hotel would add 300, or 1%.
We supported the hotel, just as we’ve supported Valley’s Edge — and in both cases, we have found some narratives to be at odds with bigger-picture facts. Not only that, you can bet that other potential investors are following this saga with great interest. Many are probably asking themselves “What’s the point of trying to do anything in Chico with this out-of-control NIMBYism?”
If nothing else, we can probably agree that van Overbeek has shown he’ll speak his mind regardless of which side of the aisle it might irritate, and in a big way, such candor is refreshing. But taking aim at “citizens” to such a degree is a statement that we suspect might come back to haunt him. Some voters have long memories.
Hits and misses are compiled by the editorial board.
