Chico police are promising to be less “dramatic” the next time a bear wanders into a neighborhood after an emergency alert about a young bear drew attention across the city and sparked a flood of reactions online.

In a Monday social media post following the incident, the Chico Police Department acknowledged that the bear at the center of the alert was “just a baby” and joked that residents tend to “lose their dang minds when a bear’s involved.”

Police said a newly implemented emergency notification system inadvertently sent the bear alert to “practically the whole city,” prompting officials to publicly explain what happened.

 

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“We normally would have kept our business off of the internet,” the department wrote, adding that the alert system had “went full send” and distributed the notification far more broadly than intended.

‘Lessons Have Been Learned’

The department said it was encouraged by the response from residents, praising the “overwhelming presence of common sense (and wit)” in the comments.

“Now that we know y’all know how to act right, expectations will be raised,” the post said.

The agency also poked fun at its own handling of the situation, referencing a follow-up post that included the bear’s location and what it described as “admittedly debatable safety tips.”

“Lessons have been learned,” police wrote.

Despite the lighthearted tone, the department said the experience provided a learning opportunity as officials work through issues with the new notification system.

“At any rate, the next time a bear takes a wrong turn into one of our neighborhoods,” the post concluded, “we promise to not be so dramatic about it.”

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