TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — We have been following up on that weekend shooting that happened in downtown Tucson where nine people ended up shot and wounded and police shot and wounded a suspect. We’ve been talking with Tucson police about their overall strategy and philosophy that they apply downtown to try to keep it a safe place to be.
Tucson Police say the shooting began with an argument between two groups that escalated to gunfire. Now 21 year old David Leroy French is charged in the shooting. He was already on probation for an earlier gun related conviction. As a convicted felon, it was not legal for him to even have a gun.
Police say officers were close enough to hear the shots and rush to the scene before anyone even called 911.
Lieutenant Aaron Marquis commands officers in TPD’s Downtown District which include 4th Avenue and University Boulevard.
He says part of their strategy is to keep officers high profile and close.
“Just engagement with the community, and being uniformed officers, marked patrol cars. Closer towards bar closing time, we have our emergency lights on so that people know that we're out there.”
Police say last weekend they had 20 officers in the downtown district, along with five sergeants and two community service officers. Rio Nuevo and Downtown Tucson Partnership cover the pay for some of the officers to keep more of them working and watching downtown.
Lieutenant Marquis says officers are trained to watch for signs tensions are cranking up. They apply de-escalation techniques to try to cool things back down.
“We receive extensive training on people's behaviors, whether or not they're under the influence of drugs or alcohol, just mental health concerns, and that's constant. That's in-person training that we receive at the academy, updated training that we receive through online training platforms here.”
If someone is hurt, officers have advanced first aid training to help keep victims alive until paramedics arrive.
He says police downtown work to maintain strong relationships with the businesses there. That includes making sure the businesses have officers' cell phones so they can call if there’s trouble.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
