by Matthew Holloway | Jan 14, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
A new study based on FBI crime data has identified the areas most afflicted by crime in the state of Arizona and found Mohave County to be a crime hotspot.
According to the research by Suzuki Law, through analysis of crime rates per 100,000 residents in each county’s jurisdiction, Mohave County ranked highest followed by Pima and Yuma Counties, La Paz County, and finally Maricopa County rounding out the top five.
The report found:
- “Mohave County holds the top place with a total crime score of 99.54. Its monthly average property crime rate is 167.9 per 100,000 residents, about 121% above the statewide average of 76.1. The county has a violent crime rate of 108.5, roughly 74% higher than the statewide average of 62.2.
- Pima County follows in second place with a total crime score of 88.27. The average monthly property crime rate stands at 168.2 per 100,000, the highest among all counties in Arizona. On the other hand, the county’s violent crime rate of 83.7 is 35% above the statewide average of 62.2.
- Coming in third, Yuma County has a crime score of 86.86. Its average monthly property crime rate of 124.0 per 100,000 is nearly 63% above Arizona’s average. Yuma County has the highest violent crime rate in Arizona, at 109.3. This is around 76% higher than the statewide average of 62.2.
- La Paz County ranks fourth with a crime score of 79.43. Here, the monthly property crime rate is 140.5 per 100,000, about 85% more than the state average of 76.1, and the violent crime rate of 82.3 is 32% above the state average of 62.2.”
A spokesman for Suzuki Law commented on the clear disparity favoring crimes against property saying, “The data indicates that property crimes are a major issue in Arizona, especially in counties like Mohave, Pima, and Yuma. While all types of crime have serious implications for community safety, the prevalence of property offenses in these counties demands focused attention from law enforcement and policymakers.”
Maricopa County, despite the obvious handicap of having the largest population by far, ranked relatively low at fifth place with an property crime rate of 105.6 per 100,000, about 39% higher than the state average of 76.1 and with violent crime at 71.3 or about 15% over the state average of 62.2.
In the top ten ranking, five counties are notably absent: Pinal, Apache, Graham, Navajo and Santa Cruz.
Top 10 Arizona Counties by Overall Crime Rate Score
1. Mohave County — 99.54
2. Pima County — 88.27
3. Yuma County — 86.86
4. La Paz County — 79.43
5. Maricopa County — 63.99
6. Gila County — 61.62
7. Yavapai County — 54.10
8. Cochise County — 46.21
9. Greenlee County — 43.20
10. Coconino County — 39.08
The law firm suggested that the installation of proactive security measures are among the most effective deterrents but stressed the need for legal assistance for victims. “Installing home security systems is one of the most effective ways to protect your property, with studies showing it can reduce burglary risks by up to 60%.” The attorneys also called for personal vigilance, situational awareness, and the avoidance of high crime areas.
Community-led initiatives are also valuable. “Neighborhood watch programs have proven to reduce crime rates by 16% in participating areas,” they observed.
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office was contacted to comment on this report but did not reply by the publication deadline.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Daniel Stefanski | Dec 5, 2024 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A southern Arizona elections official is facing a potential investigation over her jurisdiction’s execution of the recent November General Election.
On Monday, state Representatives Teresa Martinez and Rachel Jones sent a request to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, asking her office to conduct an investigation “into the Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cazares-Kelly’s handling of the 2024 General Election.”
The Republican lawmakers raised a number of issues stemming from the election in Pima County, including “shutting down of early ballot request portal, inmate voter registration program, [and] handling of undeliverable and returned ballots.”
“Election integrity is the foundation of our democracy, and voters deserve to know their elections are being administered fairly, lawfully, and transparently,” said Representative Martinez. “The numerous irregularities and lack of accountability from the Pima County Recorder’s Office demand a full investigation.”
“When nearly 4,000 voters face barriers to requesting a ballot, and when questions about unlawful voting and ballot processing are met with silence, it’s clear that immediate action is needed to restore public trust,” added Representative Jones.
In their letter to Mayes, the two legislators wrote, “Arizonans deserve free, fair, and transparent elections. In light of your recent decision to immediately investigate President-Elect Donald Trump over his speech (although you later determined his remarks were protected by the First Amendment), we hope you will agree that Recorder Cázares-Kelly’s alarming conduct administering the 2024 General Election warrants a thorough investigation.”
The Pima County Recorder appears to be a proud Democrat activist alongside her nonpartisan position as an election official. During this just-completed elections cycle, Cázares-Kelly posted a picture with Jane Fonda, and boasted about shaking former President Barack Obama’s hand at a political event.
Cázares-Kelly also shared a video of Mayes dancing at a political rally in October.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Matthew Holloway | Nov 2, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The office of Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly has become the center of the latest election controversy in Arizona. On October 19th, the county’s online portal to request vote-by-mail ballots was shut down when voting officials claimed the site was overwhelmed with the quantity of requests. The shutdown occurred a week prior to the Oct. 25th deadline.
According to the Tucson Sentinel, as an alternative, the county office posted a notice at the top of the disabled form page instructing voters to call-in to the office in order to request a mail-in ballot.
Arizona Senator Justine Wadsack announced Wednesday that she is launching an investigation into the allegations against Cázares-Kelly’s office “following potential violations which may have suppressed thousands of Southern Arizona voters.”
“I was truly shocked to learn our County Recorder’s Office had done this,” Senator Wadsack said in a statement. “These actions are absolutely unacceptable, undermine the integrity of our elections, and raise serious questions regarding voter suppression. This has affected my current constituents and my community, and I want to make sure their votes are protected as well as votes for all candidates involved. I’m here to make sure there’s accountability for the laws that appear to have been broken. My message to voters is to get out today and vote in person to ensure your vote is not suppressed.”
In a letter of inquiry sent to the County Recorder, Wadsack wrote, “You certainly know that, under Arizona law, ‘an elector may make a verbal or signed request to the county recorder’ for an early ballot. Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 16-542(A) (emphasis added). Further, your office must mail voters the early ballot ‘within forty-eight hours after receipt of the request.’ Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 16-542(D). It appears clear that your office violated both requirements.”
Arizona Reps. Rachel Jones and Cory McGarr issued a similar inquiry on Oct. 24th to Cázares-Kelly following allegations that the Recorder’s office, on receipt of undeliverable ballots or those returned due to an outdated address, sent notice that the voters mailed ballot was “received,” creating confusion.
Per the Sentinel, Cázares-Kelly’s office sent alerts to approximately 4,000 voters in a mass email to notify them that their requests for a mail-in-ballot were canceled and instructed them to contact the office by phone to request a ballot, citing Marion Chubon, chief deputy to the Pima County Recorder, who ordered the shutdown. Chubon told reporters that the office didn’t inform the press as they “didn’t think it was a story.”
Chubon, responding to the outlet, explained that although the state law requiring ballots be sent within 48 hours of a request (as referred to by Sen. Wadsack), “was a consideration, obviously, and we weren’t going to fulfill those requests in that time. So we chose the more effective option – bottom line, getting those people their ballots that they needed.” However, the state law doesn’t allow for the County Recorder to make such a determination and cast aside requests that have already been submitted.
Subsequently, over 3,000 phone calls were fielded by the office on Oct. 21st and some 1,858 new requests were processed. Between that Monday and Friday another 2,829 requests were handled to the tune of approximately one every four minutes. Chubon told the outlet that she was confident that most of the voters whose requests were thrown out had received one. However she noted that, “We can’t guarantee that every single person called us to get a ballot, but we’re pretty confident that the majority of those were second requests… and those who didn’t fit into that category may have had a hold on their record and wouldn’t have gotten a ballot.”
“We just didn’t think it was a story,” Chubon added. “We were literally just trying to meet our statutory obligations and serve the voters. Like I said, over the weekend, we were processing unprecedented amounts of ballots. We have staff working 12-hour days, seven days a week, including the recorder and myself. We’re all working every day. It was just, ‘Let’s get these people their ballots.’ That was our focus. We would never, intentionally, not try to alert the media.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Elizabeth Troutman | May 6, 2024 | News
By Elizabeth Troutman |
An Air Force veteran and nonprofit represented by the Goldwater Institute are suing Pima County over its “illegal” firearms mandate.
Pima County wants to fine residents $1,000 if they fail to report a lost or stolen firearm to the government within two days.
State law prohibits local governments from regulating firearms. A Goldwater press release says the county Board of Supervisors appeared to be aware of the law when they passed the ordinance.
Goldwater is suing on behalf of veteran Chris King and Pima County-based Arizona Citizens Defense League to stop the mandate.
“The new reporting ordinance isn’t just illegal—it takes aim at the wrong people,” Goldwater staff attorney Parker Jackson said. “Rather than target criminals who steal firearms, the new requirement revictimizes law-abiding gun owners who experience the loss or theft of a firearm. Some may not even realize they are victims until much later.”
King, a county resident and NRA-certified firearms instructor, said he values his right to bear arms in Arizona.
“When my apartment was burglarized, both my wife and I were on active-duty out of state, and I didn’t even discover my firearm had been stolen until a week later,” King said. “We’re a nation of laws, and Arizona law clearly prohibits local governments from imposing regulations contradictory to the laws of this state. Why do Pima County officials think they’re above the law?”
The city of Tucson made a similar attempt to limit the right to bear arms, and the Arizona Attorney General found it illegal.
Public records obtained by Goldwater show that the Pima Board of Supervisors, led by District 1 Supervisor Rex Scott and Board Chair Adelita Grijalva, has been preparing for this fight for more than two years by coordinating with left-wing activist groups, attorneys, and other elected officials, according to the news release.
“These are fundamental constitutional rights, and the state legislature has repeatedly reinforced and protected those rights from local interference through laws prohibiting local governments from implementing almost any form of firearm regulations,” Jackson said.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Mar 18, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
State Rep. Quang Nguyen (R-LD01) advised Pima County that its latest firearms ordinance violates state law.
In a Tuesday letter to the county’s board of supervisors, Nguyen said the ordinance, which imposes reporting requirements and fines on gun owners related to loss or theft of a firearm, was “extremely troubling” since it amounted to regulatory authority only available to the state legislature per state law, supported by a 2017 Arizona Supreme Court ruling. Nguyen pointed out that a similar ordinance by the city of Tucson was determined unlawful by then-Attorney General Tom Horne in 2013.
“Another attempt to regulate firearms via an illegal ordinance by Pima County,” said Nguyen.
Nguyen also pointed out that the city of Phoenix’s ordinance regulating unclaimed firearms violated multiple state laws, per Attorney General Kris Mayes last September. Mayes affirmed the Arizona Supreme Court’s determination that firearms regulation remains a statewide concern.
Under Pima County’s new ordinance passed last week, gun owners face up to $1,000 in fines every time they fail to report lost or stolen firearms to police within two days. The board of supervisors passed the ordinance 4-1; only Supervisor Steve Christy voted against it.
In the ordinance, the board of supervisors justified its regulation by relaying that those prohibited from owning firearms have committed a significant number of the county’s firearm-related crimes with the help of straw purchasers. The board reasoned that the ordinance’s reporting requirements would help find and prosecute those straw purchasers.
“Reporting requirements assist with the apprehension and prosecution of straw purchasers, preventing or deterring them from claiming that a firearm they bought and transferred to a prohibited possessor was lost or taken in an unreported theft as well as preventing or deterring prohibited possessors from falsely claiming that their firearms were lost or stolen when law enforcement moves to remove them,” read the ordinance.
The ordinance originally proposed a $300 fine for each failure to report a lost or stolen firearm.
It was Pima County Attorney Laura Conover who suggested an increase in the fine amount to $1,000, in her letter of support to the board. Conover said that her office had handled over 100 cases involving firearms used by prohibited possessors last year, six of which were murder charges. Conover’s letter made no mention of the potential conflict between the ordinance and state law.
“Do we want law enforcement in Pima County to track down the origins of a firearm only after a crime has been committed, only to be told that the firearm was lost or stolen?” said Conover. “Or do we want to provide law enforcement with an opportunity to track down lost or stolen firearms before they land into the hands of prohibited possessors or, worse, the hands of young people or people with mental disabilities?”
The county further justified its ordinance by citing a 1998 Arizona Court of Appeals ruling in City of Tucson v. Rineer and a federal district court ruling on a California law in National Association for Gun Rights v. City of San Jose. Nguyen criticized the county’s justifications as irrelevant to their ordinance.
“Rineer analyzed the validity of a Tucson City Code provision that prohibited using or possessing firearms within Tucson city parks. Rineer also predates the Arizona Supreme Court’s 2017 opinion in City of Tucson,” said Nguyen. “It should go without saying that Arizonans expect county officials to enact laws that comply with Arizona laws, not California laws. Moreover, the ordinance that the federal court considered in the San Jose case did not impose any mandatory reporting requirements, fines, or penalties and bears no resemblance to the Ordinance here.”
Nguyen warned the county that “knowing and willful” violations of state firearm law incur a $50,000 penalty.
Pima County’s firearms ordinance takes effect in April.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
