Editorial: Ordinance needs to be reviewed more often

This Halloween is not the time to test the police in Chico, regardless of how drunk you are. The Chico Police and the University Police have made it clear they will not tolerate any sort of dangerous revelry this holiday weekend. Expect to see the disorderly events ordinance put into action if the partying gets out of control.

The highly contested ordinance, which was passed in November 2007, has been used nine times since its inception. The law was passed to give Chico police a way to disperse crowds without using force, but the unclear wording of the law leaves a loophole for police officers to break up any crowd they deem is an “unlawful assembly.”

Tuesday, the Chico City Council reviewed the ordinance, with Council Member Andy Holcombe saying the City Council should not focus on the singular, possible misuse of the ordinance, but rather on the eight other times the law has been used to prevent force from being used.

Focusing simply on the positive and neglecting to look at possible misuse of the ordinance is not OK with us, and it shouldn’t be OK with you.

The Council meeting ended with no plans to review the ordinance again, though a member of the American Civil Liberties Union proposed it be reviewed every quarter instead of once a year, as it is now.

Regardless of the fact the implementation of the ordinance helps to gain control over large crowds, the Chico City Council needs to do more than cross its fingers and hope the ordinance is being implemented in a way that will not violate our civil liberties.

We suggest the ordinance be reviewed every quarter, as suggested by the member of the ACLU who appeared at the council’s review, in order to keep both the populace and the police force of Chico in check. Otherwise, incidents will slip through the cracks. If the ordinance is used as it is proposed, the police and residents of this city should have no problem respecting its boundaries, but a slip-up on the side of the police at one in nine incidents is not tolerable.
 

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