TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The City of Tucson is drafting an ordinance to limit hours for hookah bars. After a midtown shooting in August, Tucson Police and the city attorney's office began looking at crime data.
When comparing crime in and around hookah lounges, incidents reported to Tucson Police in 2024 were four times higher than incidents at bars.
While the number of incidents in and around smoke shops is also higher than the previous year, the number of violent crimes is much lower than hookah lounges.
After seeing a pattern, the Tucson attorney and Tucson Police presented data to Tucson City Council on Wednesday. A recommendation was made to not only limit hours, but to ramp-up security and enforce age restrictions as well.
“The intent really is to protect the patrons and the employees and the community, and not pretend this data doesn’t exist and this violence doesn’t exist and there’s clearly some kind of nexus that we need to get after,” Ward 6 Councilwoman Karin Uhlich said to the council.
The city attorney received approval to draft an ordinance, which is expected to be brought back to the council within the next 45 days.
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Reyna Preciado is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after graduating Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Reyna by emailing reyna.preciado@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or Twitter.
