Update on Activities of the Desert Ridge Off Duty Police Patrols
By Officer Tim Mitten
Community Action Officer
Black Mountain Precinct
Phoenix Police Department
In October of 2011, your management company and community managers came to me with an idea about increasing safety in the Desert Ridge residential community. The idea was to have additional patrols in the residential neighborhoods from Phoenix police officers in marked police vehicles. These patrols would be officers hired in an “off duty” capacity or to define further, paid for by Desert Ridge but still acting as full fledged police officers in uniform and in marked City of Phoenix police vehicles. This is in addition to the regular patrol service you would get from the patrol officers who work the area.
This program was started on December 1, 2011 and the main focus of the program is to deter burglaries, thefts and stolen vehicles while also being a visible presence in the Desert Ridge Community. The area of responsibility for the officers is for all of the residential communities in Desert Ridge; the commercial properties, Desert Ridge Marketplace or JW Marriott Resort will be on an emergency basis and left to the officers discretion as to respond. Any resident who needs police assistance is to still call 911 or Crime Stop at 602-262-6151 to have officers dispatched out to their residence. The off duty officers will be listening to the calls being dispatched and will respond accordingly but keep in mind that off duty officers will not always be working, this is not a 24/7 assignment so please still call 911 or Crime Stop as usual.
The program has had some successes which I have sent out via email but since not everyone is on my email distribution list I would write an article recapping some of those events. In December of 2011 with the assistance of the Desert Ridge Off Duty patrols, a serial burglar that had been burglarizing Desert Ridge and other north Phoenix communities was caught in the act. This arrest lead to the clearance of several other cases and a short time ago the suspect accepted a plea deal in which he was sentenced to 8 years in the Department of Corrections Prison. This was a combined effort amongst the community and law enforcement which led to the arrest and conviction of a repeat offender who had been committing many property crimes.
More recently, the officer working in Desert Ridge came across an occupied stolen vehicle driving around in the Desert Ridge community. After following the vehicle out of Desert Ridge the suspects attempted to elude officers and ran from the vehicle. Two of the suspects broke into an apartment which had a 10 year old and 8 year old inside and they remained inside the apartment in an attempt to hide from officers. The off duty officer and other on duty officers, who had arrived to assist, extracted the children to safety and with the assistance of a police K9 took the suspects into custody. These suspects are facing multiple felony charges and their case is going through the court system now. There was no evidence in the car showing that the suspects had committed any crimes in Desert Ridge
but it was found that they had just got into the community when they were
seen by the officer.
The last major instance happened in July after a 6 week investigation, officers from the Black Mountain Precinct Neighborhood Enforcement Team and with assistance from the Community Action Officer and the Off Duty Desert Ridge Officers, concluded the investigation with a drug search warrant. This search warrant targeted a marijuana grow house operation, one suspect was arrested and over 150 high grade marijuana plants were seized valued at over $150,000, over $25,000 in equipment, a vehicle used in the operation, and over 100 pounds of other marijuana valued at $5000. Due to an ongoing investigation the address for this location will not be released publicly.
These are just a couple examples of how a partnership between law enforcement and the community will help in improving the quality of life for all residents by helping eliminate as much crime as possible. The officers have also noticed a marked decrease in the instances of open garage doors. The simple act of keeping your garage closed and locking your gates and doors will aid tremendously in helping reduce property crime. We have also been keeping busy with vacation watches, so continue to contact the Black Mountain Precinct at 602-495-5002 and ask for a vacation watch and we will get the information to the officers working in Desert Ridge. I am also working on getting a statistical comparison of the crime types we targeted with this program to compare with before and after the program started so hopefully that will be out soon.
Hopefully you have noticed the officers patrolling your streets; the extra visibility is one of the important aspects of this program. Please continue to maintain your vigilance of activity in your community and report any suspicious activity to Crime Stop at 602-262-6151 or crimes in progress to 911. We have had some successes but the unfortunate side of law enforcement is that there are more criminals out there and we must continue our efforts to deter and arrest them. This is a valued partnership and we are committed here at the Phoenix Police Department to helping keep your community safe and to improve the quality of life for you and your neighborhood.
If you would like to receive email updates directly from me on public safety information in the Desert Ridge area, please send me an email and I will add you to my distribution list. I do not release the list to anyone else in the City of Phoenix or Police Department and only send out information on current public safety threats, recent major police activity or occasional crime prevention tips. I can be reached directly at 602-495-5238 or at tim.mitten@phoenix.gov if I can be of assistance on any matter or if you have questions regarding this article.
