TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — On Tucson’s Southside, the city put part of its Safe City initiative into action with a special operation that combined arrests with drug treatment, housing assistance and trash clean up.
Tucson Police say you cannot arrest your way out of problems with street crime. You have to do more than just make arrests. That’s what led to a special coordinated effort that includes police and a long list of other agencies. Some people will be going to jail but a lot of other people will be going to treatment.
TPD Sergeant Kyle Wilson says, “It's not uncommon to see people openly and blatantly using drugs out in the streets.”
After 17 years with the Tucson Police, Sergeant Wilson knows sometimes the best thing he can bring to the streets is an eye for who’s ready to talk.
“How long you've been smoking pills or how long you've been using drugs, you know, if they, if they're admitted drug users, and how long they've been homeless, that kind of stuff. Seeking those types of answers, try to break down some barriers and like, ‘Hey, man, we're just here to talk’, and then we'll go into offering the resources that we have set here to provide.”
This special operation is designed to help people start resolving their problems right on the spot.
Inside a van, there’s a video link to a judge ready to deal with arrest warrants.
There are organizations ready to get people off the street and into safe shelters, where they can get started on drug treatment.
Justin Hamilton pulls together the combination of city, county and private agencies. He says crime stats, complaints and homeless assessments help decide where special operations happen. He says follow ups help judge how effective it was and reduce the risk that enforcement will push problems somewhere else.
“We know that this impact will inadvertently have people in the alleys, in the washes and in the residential areas around here. So we prepare for that with each one of these operations. This is the fourth one that we've done. So we just know that we're going to be out here for a week later in this area.”
The City of Tucson says Wednesday’s operation lasted about three hours and led to:
-26 arrests warrants served
-12 people who accepted services like shelter and drug treatment
-City workers clearing four homeless encampments and collecting five tons of debris
For Sergeant Wilson, work like this gives him hope he will not see the same troubled people again and again.
“It is rewarding seeing people accept the services that are being offered by the other resources here, and pick themselves up and kind of move on in life and hopefully put themselves in a better direction.”
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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.
