The Chico Police Department has created a new police unit to help reduce crime in our community. The former C Team was responsible for patrolling the south campus and downtown area during the academic year, transitioning to a street level crime unit during the winter and summer months.
For a variety of reasons, including the Covid-19 Pandemic, there has been an increase in Part 1 crimes, to include violent crime. In an effort to reduce these types of criminal behaviors, the Chico Police Department will be reassigning C team to the Violence Suppression Unit (VSU) on September 17, 2020.
VSU will be an investigative unit with a hybrid mission in both investigation and proactive enforcement of violent crime. The VSU will investigate crimes such as shootings, stabbings, felony level batteries, and robberies . The team will also focus on crimes committed or suspected to have been committed by organized crime groups, career criminals, or suspects on some form of supervised release. The VSU unit will co-respond to crimes with the patrol division and assume primary investigative responsibility once the scene is static. This will allow for a more rapid and efficient response in order to successfully investigate serious crimes occurring in our community.
The team will work closely with the department’s Patrol Division, Target Team, and Detective Bureau and will partner with Butte County Probation, Butte County Sheriff’s Office and the Butte County District Attorney’s Office.
“The mission of the Violence Suppression Unit is to bridge the gap between the Patrol and Detective Unit’s by rapidly responding to these types of crimes. The goal is to achieve successful investigations, apprehend violent criminals, and reduce violent crime in the City of Chico”- Chief Matt Madden