Tucson’s stores are looking the other way with theft, according to local accounts of law and order in the city.
Lacey Nagao, a Turning Point Action influencer, shared her experience of a store visit over the weekend in a viral account. Nagao reported that she witnessed theft at a local Walgreens while she was checking out, but that employees said it didn’t matter. A homeless man, one of the 10 or so outside the store, walked out with items including Cheetos, beer, and soda without paying. Nagao recounted that the man even issued a farewell to the checkout clerk.
According to Nagao, the employees were beyond the point of feeling disaffected by the lack of police response to reports of theft. Per Nagao, the employees said the police “don’t show up” and “have been told not to do anything” concerning theft. Additionally, the store’s security guards were fired by their regional manager last month, and employees were instructed to allow thieves to “take whatever they want.”
America is not the America it was 10 years ago.
On Saturday I stopped at a Walgreens on Craycroft and Speedway as I drove home from the airport. There were about 10 homeless people outside but I didn’t think much of it. Sadly, it’s the “new normal” for anywhere south of River…
Nagao said that when she asked the employee if she could have left without paying for her groceries, the employee acknowledged that she could have if she so desired.
Nagao lamented the lack of law and order, blaming the city’s Democrat-majority leadership.
“Our city is becoming a place I never thought I would see, and quite frankly, somewhere I refuse to live,” said Nagao. “Thanks to [Mayor Regina Romero], Tucson is quickly on its way to becoming the next San Francisco.”
In response to Nagao’s account, several users reported that they noticed a lack of police amid drugs and crime.
A daughter moved to Tucson so I'm back in town after two decades away. There was always drugs and crime but what I noticed are no police anywhere, as if they want us to forget what being safe feels like. It happened in my new town but was extra shocking to see drastic…
Same here. I stopped at a Circle K around Miracle Mile and Oracle and about 25 hanging around the front door. A couple of them were trying to break into an outside vending machine.
Several users attested to similar issues happening in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa.
Several users pointed out that corporate policies factor into the permissive view of theft as well.
I was talking with a Lowe's employee yesterday, and he basically told me that their company policy is the same thing. I'm in a red state. So, it's also a corporate policy.
The city of Phoenix may create a new court to handle the crimes committed by the homeless. The new specialty court, the Phoenix Community Court, would cost well over $2 million to operate annually, with a $46,000 start-up cost.
Phoenix has three other specialty courts, one of which addresses crimes committed by the homeless on a county-wide basis: the Maricopa County Regional Homeless Court (MCRHC). The other two courts address crimes committed by veterans and the mentally ill, respectively.
The Phoenix City Council approved the court’s creation during last week’s Public Safety and Justice meeting. The council report noted that most homeless individuals were being cited or arrested on minor charges in the traditional criminal justice system, which the council said didn’t afford enough opportunities for services to address their needs.
The new court would take in all crimes except domestic violence offenses and assault.
At this stage in the policymaking process, the city is deciding between several entry methods for admitting eligible homeless criminals into the Phoenix Community Court.
The first method would be identification during arraignment prompted by a Phoenix Police Department citation or prosecutor’s office complaint. The second method would be through police booking an eligible individual into jail, followed by the Office of Homeless Solutions offering the individual resources as they determine eligibility for the new court.
The new court would have a Community Court Team craft a customized service plan for eligible criminals. Such a plan would include specific milestones to track progress, with regular court appearances. A criminal’s successful completion of the plan would result in either dismissal of the case, a reduced charge, or a suspended sentence.
“The Phoenix Community Court will be centered around a holistic and compassionate approach to provide long-term solutions that will positively impact individuals currently experiencing homelessness, and benefit the entire community,” stated the city plan.
To start, the new court would hire 11 full-time positions across several city departments and 10 contracted navigators. The 11 city employees would cost over $1.4 million annually, while the 10 navigators would cost $620,000 annually. Rapid response funding, which concerns staff efforts to expedite housing placement or other similar initiatives, would cost $150,000 annually. Administrative costs would total $25,000.
The 11 full-time positions include an assistant attorney, legal assistant, and casework services coordinator for the public defender’s office; two attorneys, a court or legal clerk, legal assistant, and administrative assistant in the prosecutor’s office; two bailiffs in the municipal court; and a program manager in the Office of Homeless Solutions.
The 10 contracted navigators would break down as follows: one managing the entire navigation team, two focusing on working with individuals identified in regular court proceedings, three engaging throughout the community at the early stages of the court process, and four assisting individuals entering through the jail court.
The one-time start-up costs for the new court would consist of $30,000 for three vehicles, and $15,000 for “other equipment.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The latest Phoenix Police Department (PPD) data indicates that violent crime has increased while property crimes have decreased from last year.
There was an average increase of over 2 percent for violent crimes, and 3 percent decrease for property crimes. Below are the overall crimes year to date, comparing last January to July to this January to July.
According to separate PPD data, there’s also been a decrease in bias crimes from last year. Last January through August, there were 116 crimes motivated by bias. This year, there have only been 13 in total from January through March.
The drop in bias-motivated crimes has been consistent since 2020, when there was a peak of 204 bias-motivated crimes that year. The greatest number of bias-motivated crimes occurred in 2017, reaching a total of 230.
The rise in crime accompanies PPD’s staffing shortages. On Wednesday, the Phoenix City Council discussed the PPD’s efforts to increase hiring. PPD affirmed that they continue to experience net losses: more officers retiring or resigning than being hired.
Currently, PPD has about 2,600 sworn field positions, 80 in academy, 1,000 working and patrolling officers, 20 in training, and 80 in transitional duty assignment. Current retirements and resignations this year are just under 200. Last year, there were 275 retirements and resignations.
However, PPD Assistant Chief of Police Bryan Chapman said that PPD expected to see a turnaround in the near future.
“If you look at a year ago in terms of where we are today, we are in a much better position. Next year we’ll be back to some normalized numbers or an even better position than where we are,” Chapman.
Officer shortage last year resulted in PPD not responding to certain 911 calls.
Watch the Phoenix City Council policy meeting on public safety and justice below:
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
