You have seen Chico Police Department's halloween safety campaign on television for days now, and Halloween night, trick-or-treaters saw them on the streets, making sure everyone kept safe. Chico Police Chief Mike Maloney told Action News, "Historically, Halloween itself is always the big night so we're geared up and we're ready for whatever comes our way."
Chico police began their Halloween emphasis patrol Thursday night. Since then, they have already made more than 70 arrests. Maloney said, "Our goal is not to go out and make arrests so we hope don't have more than that, but in the event that we do, last night got us ready for what we'll deal with tonight."
But this Halloween is different from years past for the police department. Maloney explained, "Over the years, we've tried to transition onto the Chico PD trying to handle it all ourselves, with very limited help from the outside. So this will be the first time in probably almost a decade that Halloween has fallen on a weekend. So the bulk of the response is going to be handled by the Chico PD."
Chico Police Department's entire staff is working the holiday. Officers from Glenn, Colusa, Yuba and Stanislaus are also helping patrol the city. Chico residents Action News spoke with appreciate the extra police. One trick-or-treater said, "I feel like it's important for us to feel safe in Chico. If that's what the police are doing, I feel like they're doing a very good job this year, I feel very safe."
Chico Police had a large presence in Downtown Chico, as well as the South Campus area.
