CHICO — Crimes in Chico have decreased since the Camp Fire, according to a new report Chico Police Chief Mike O’Brien gave to the City Council at its most recent meeting.

City Councilor Kasey Reynolds asked the police chief to come and talk about the city’s crime since the Camp Fire. She said the council has received many emails and notes from “concerned constituents” regarding what they believe is an increase in crime since the Camp Fire.

O’Brien reported that overall, compared to the same time period in 2018, crimes have dropped 7 percent in Chico between January and April; violent crimes have decreased by 13 percent; and property crimes have dropped by 5 percent.

“There’s always context to statistics, right?” said O’Brien. “I did not expect crime to go down, we’re really just hoping for stabilization, and I think we’ve seen that which is positive.”

In particular, aggravated assaults are happening less too; including child abuse, which is down 44 percent, and according to O’Brien, there has not been a single case of elder abuse reported yet this year.

“I wanted (O’Brien) to come and share the information,” Reynolds said. “We know we have a crime issue in Chico.”

“They know I’m going to give them the straight scoop,” the chief said.

Reynolds said she spent a lot of time working one-on-one with O’Brien to identify ways they could work together, like installing more cameras and other technology to help police solve crimes.

O’Brien said he and Reynolds spoke about cameras, as well as things like automated license plate readers.

“We know there’s a lot of crime in south campus and north campus,” he said, and most of that is perpetrated by people who live out of town. The police chief thinks there are only a few ways to leave Chico, and it would be easy to place cameras at certain locations to catch them as they leave.

Of all the stats the police chief reported, the City Council also got some bad news: Butte County ranks No. 1 in the state for hospitalizations due to opioid overdose, and hospitalizations of overlapping opioid and benzodiazepine use.

“That is not a proud accomplishment by any stretch of the meaning,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien specifically commended the work of Butte County Public Health Department official Dr. Andy Miller and the Butte Glenn Medical Association for their work dealing with the opioid crisis locally.

“I think we’re starting to see some of the fruits of their labor,” he said.