SOUTH TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — South Tucson police are no longer using a surveillance tool they say helped them solve crimes after the city's mayor and council voted last week to end its contract with its Flock camera provider.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: South Tucson City Council votes to cancel flock camera contracts
Police Chief Danny Denogean says his department used the Flock Safety cameras in dozens of investigations in the roughly six months since they were installed across the city.
"We've had 22 incidents in the last six months. We've recovered, well, we've made 14 arrests because of the cameras. We've recovered eight stolen vehicles," Denogean said.
Denogean says the cameras also helped solve two hit-and-run cases and a September shooting investigation where four guns were seized.
"If we hadn't had those cameras, we wouldn't have been able to do that," Denogean said.
There are five sets of surveillance cameras and license plate readers across South Tucson, which spans about 1.2 square miles. Denogean says the annual cost was about $20,000.
"We've already instructed our officers not to use the cameras for anything at this point because that's what we've been told in order to do," Denogean said.
South Tucson is the third city in Arizona to end contracts with its respective Flock camera providers, Sedona and Flagstaff being the other two.
Mayor Roxanna Valenzuela says the decision to end the contract was based on concerns raised by South Tucsonans.
"It was clear that people felt having the presence of these cameras could lead to further scrutiny in our community, a community that's made of mostly people of color," Valenzuela said.
According to Valenzuela, some South Tucsonans shared fears about immigration enforcement and how information from the cameras could potentially be used.
"I've talked to three different families in South Tucson that have been separated because one of the members has been picked up by ICE. They're scared. They're scared to take their kids to school," Valenzuela said.
Denogean says he understands the immigration concerns, but maintains that camera data was not shared outside of his department.
"I can tell you that like any information that we had from five cameras belonged to the city of South Tucson and we did not share that information with ICE or the federal government," Denogean said.
Valenzuela says she and the council are now exploring alternatives that could help police with their investigations.
"Sometimes when you have very little resources, you have to get creative. And that's what we're doing. I think our strength is in our resilience and our unity and we're going to figure this out," Valenzuela said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Jacqueline Aguilar is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born and raised in Yuma, AZ., she is no stranger to the unforgiving Arizona heat. Now this U of A wildcat is excited to be back in Tucson and is looking forward to involving herself in the community. Share your story ideas with Jacqueline by emailing jacqueline.aguilar@kgun9.com or connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
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