CHICO — Despite the 21 percent population increase, the Chico Police Department announced Tuesday that 2019 saw a drop in part one crime.

Part one crimes consists of both violent and property crimes such as homicide, rape, robbery, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson. According to a press release issued Tuesday by the Police Department, part one crime in Chico dropped 2 percent from 2018 to 2019 while overall violent crime dropped 9 percent.

These numbers, however, are gathered through statistics related to reported crime rather than arrests made.

Chico Police Department Chief Michael O’Brien said releasing the statistics is part of an effort to be transparent.

“I also want to emphasize that while this statistical decrease is positive, these numbers still represent people who have been victimized by crime, which is never acceptable to me as chief,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien added that there will be more information related to these statistics “in the coming weeks.”

While violent crime is down, the charts show that property crime remains almost the same overall with the number of reports going from 2,403 in 2018 to 2,406 in 2019.

Burglary saw the largest decline dropping 17 percent from 327 incidents to 272.

Aggravated assault dropped 15 percent from 417 to 353.

Larceny stayed roughly the same.

Despite the drops, two crimes saw increases from 2018 to 2019. Rape reports rose from 86 instances to 100 and vehicle theft went up from 315 to 381.

According to the release, there were no homicide reports in 2019.

The release also explained that some crimes are not reported to Chico police. For example, there are sections of the city where crime is reported to other agencies such as the Butte County Sheriff’s Office.

Additionally, arson would be reported to the Chico Fire Department.

What are part one crimes?

There are eight major classifications for part one crimes that are further divided into violent crimes and property crimes. The classifications are:

Violent Crimes

Murder and non-negligent homicide

Forcible rape

Robbery

Aggravated assault (note there is a “simple assault” that is not included in this category)

Property Crimes

Burglary

Larceny (e.g., shoplifting, bicycle theft, etc.)

Motor vehicle theft

Arson

Part two crimes

Part two crimes are separated from those listed in the press release. Part two crime data is gathered with arrest information.

These crimes consist of the following: