2017 DESERT RIDGE Statistical Information
By Officer Tim Mitten
Community Action Officer
Phoenix Police Department
Black Mountain Precinct
Once again it is time for a yearly review of the crime statistics for the Desert Ridge area. The crime stats cover the entire residential community of Desert Ridge. This is defined as the residential areas from Pinnacle Peak south to the 101 Freeway, 36th Street to 56th Street and does not include the Desert Ridge Marketplace, High Street, JW Marriott Resort or any of the commercial locations. We now have a full six years of the off duty program under our belts and I still have included the previous four for comparisons.
The reports contain Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) statistics as compiled by our Crime Analysis Unit. The Phoenix Police Department reports our official statistics to the Federal government according to the Uniform Reporting Criteria (UCR) which are not equivalent to Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS) statistics or another other types. Under the hierarchy rule of UCR, only the most severe offense of an incident is counted, so if there is a Homicide after a Burglary, only the Homicide is counted. There are four Part One Violent Crimes that are counted and they are Homicide, Rape, Robbery and Aggravated Assault (counted individually by victim). There are four Part One Property Crimes that are counted and they are Stolen Vehicles, Arson, Theft, and Burglary (which includes residential, commercial and burglary from vehicles). It should also be noted that in January of 2014 the FBI changed the UCR Rape category definition which changed a couple of years recent statistics.
A review of the 2017 statistics reflect some trends that you may have heard from me and other officers over and over again throughout the years. A large majority of thefts were from unsecured vehicles and open garages. These are very preventable crimes of opportunity, so please take a few moments and remove any valuables from your vehicles, roll up vehicle windows and lock the doors and keep your garages closed when not in use. By doing these simple things we can reduce thefts and crimes of opportunity, making the area a target hardened neighborhood.
While we did show a decrease in Thefts from 125 to 92 in 2017 it is still above the off duty program yearly average of 80. Burglaries went down to 43 from 50 and were back closer to the off duty program yearly average of 44. With 12 Auto Thefts in 2017 it was above 2016 and above the yearly average of 7. Total Property Crimes were above the yearly average of 133 with 147 in 2017. These statistics show a couple things, that 2016 was a bad year and 2017 is back closer to the yearly averages but still an overall increase above the averages since the program started. We need to continue to work together to maintain these efforts and reduce crime further by practicing the crime prevention habits we have mentioned.
The Phoenix Police Department will continue to partner with the residents of Desert Ridge in order to ensure a high quality of life and provide a safe community for all.
If anyone wants to start a Block Watch, would like a free home security inspection, has any questions in regards to these statistics or anything else that is occurring in Desert Ridge, please feel free to call me at 602-495-5238 or email me at tim.mitten@phoenix.gov.
