Phoenix citizens group calls for more police officers on the ground

PHOENIX — A Phoenix citizens group said fewer police officers on the streets and the resulting slower response times are hurting more than just law enforcement.

Neal Haddad with Citizens for Phoenix said business owners, in particular, are feeling the pain, especially if they’re robbed frequently. One familiar incident is a  “beer run,” or the fairly-regular theft of beer.

“Something that is a chronic situation, it falls back from being a priority one to a priority two call,” Haddad said. “The response times go up significantly.”

In a press conference last week, the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association said average response times on priority one calls, such as a crime in progress, are six minutes. Priority two calls can take much longer.

PLEA president Ken Crane said until hiring catches back up, the city needs to authorize more overtime dollars.

Haddad said less manpower also means more danger to vulnerable citizens. For example, “If there’s a domestic violence situation in progress, the average citywide response is approaching seven minutes.”

Earlier this week, 170 sergeants and detectives were sent back to street patrol to help with the staffing shortage.

“This plan is a delicate balance of utilizing officers and detectives from the entire department while minimizing impact to other workgroups,” Chief Jeri Williams said in the statement. “The goal is to ensure we maintain expected levels of service to the community and improve response times.”

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