This story reviews the University Police Department’s daily crime logs. An Orion reporter spoke with Lt. Bryce Davison for more information regarding certain logged events from the weeks of March 26 to April 2. 

As students began a nearly week-long party, UPD, Chico Police Department, University Housing and other campus partners worked to prepare for an increase in crime, alcohol-related issues and more. 

Davison, who has been working with UPD for 20 years, said that “Chavez weekend” has been calmer than it was in the past — a trend that continued this year. He called it a success compared to when “Chavez weekend” first became an excuse for students to party. 

From sunrise to sundown across several days, students could be seen partying. Five students — two not related to alcohol — were taken to Enloe Health Medical Center, said Andrew Staples, the director of public relations for the university.

There was also one arrest made by UPD for public intoxication and resisting arrest. 

Only one fraternity, Alpha Gamma Rho, received a noise complaint that UPD responded to. Davison said officers asked the fraternity to lower the volume on the music.

He said the department doesn’t just increase the amount of patrols, it also takes a “holistic approach.” 

“With campus we try to offer other programming for students and try to give them more positive outlets or things to do.” He added that they “offer safe rides to people, hand out water and provide food.” 

Campus Connection, a van offered by UPD that picks people up along a route so they don’t need to walk through campus, provided 69 rides last Friday and Saturday, according to Staples. 

Arrests

UPD made three arrests from March 26 to Thursday. Only one was alcohol related, while the other two involved warrants. 

A woman was lying on a bench outside the Behavioral and Social Sciences building when an officer conducted a welfare check on her. 

“They went out to check on that person and make sure they were conscious or didn’t need medical attention,” he said. The officer gave the woman’s name to dispatch, who told the officer that the woman had an outstanding warrant through the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. 

A warrant is issued when “an officer becomes aware of a crime and is able to associate an individual with that crime, but for whatever reason the arrest is not made at that time,” Davison said. 

The woman was not affiliated with campus, he said. 

UPD officers arrested another woman who had three outstanding federal warrants related to burglary and drugs. 

“An officer was conducting an area check underneath the bridge near Nord, and contacted the person under there,” he said. “While speaking with them, he learned they had warrants.” After searching the individual, officers found fentanyl. 

The department often gets calls to that location, sometimes in regard to fires or thefts. So, officers proactively walk down there to check in, Davison said. 

Vandalism

This week saw lots of reports of vandalism, Davison noted that more reports might be because the department has more Community Service Officers, student employees, who have been doing more foot patrols and looking out for vandalism. 

Vandalism came in a variety of forms this last week. UPD logged reports of graffiti in bathrooms and in  Bidwell Bowl. Also, for the second week in a row, bricks were missing from the ground. A “mirror cut in half” outside the library was logged, which officers believe was because of people hanging on it.

But people may mistakenly report vandalism to UPD. March 26, someone reported that a man was outside the Bell Memorial Union carving into the concrete with a pocket knife. Davison said that when officers arrived, the man didn’t have a knife. 

“Many times, it’s something slightly different than what they thought they saw,” Davison said. “We have to determine what actually occurred.”

On Sunday, UPD officers took a report of a broken window that led to the department chair’s office for the art and art history department. There was nothing missing from the chair’s office, according to office staff. 

Thefts

While nothing was taken from the chair’s office, that isn’t always the case and sometimes it doesn’t require a break-in to steal property. 

On Friday, UPD took a report of a “small sound bar” that went missing from Yolo Hall. Davison said the investigation is still open, but officers conducted on-site interviews and combed through any footage. 

“Currently, it’s still pending because they haven’t found any suspect yet,” he said. 

Just a few hours before the incident in Yolo Hall, an electric scooter was stolen. Davison, unrelated to this specific case, said that lately the department has had successes in tracking down equipment that has tracking technology, such as electric scooters.

“We worked with the property owner, we were tracking the property and we were able to go to the location and retrieve it,” he said. 

Also on Friday, someone reported that a male stole their bag, which contained keys and a wallet. Officers responded to the Safeway to gather the information from the reporting person.

This information came from the daily crime logs in UPD’s media bulletin. Not all logs from March 26 to April 2 were featured in this story.

Chris Hutton can be reached at [email protected]