Pima County thanks PCSD for their continued efforts in a westside neighborhood

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Pima County District 5 Supervisor Andrés Cano dropped off pizza to the Pima County Sheriff's Department (PCSD) Westside San Xavier Substation on Wednesday to thank deputies for their response to concerns from the Eagle Point Estates neighborhood regarding illegal shooting and off-road riding.

Cano says he understands there may still be isolated incidents, but wants to celebrate the progress made so far.

"We have made significant progress in less than four months. Over 500 citations, over 70 mission-oriented policing units that have gone out to Eagle Point, and more importantly, we're kind of creating a conversation with neighbors in the community about the fact that the county is responding to these public safety concerns," Cano said.

"Our job is not over, but today's purpose was to say thanks to our sheriff's department for prioritizing this and for making sure that public safety is upheld here in the southwestern part of District 5."

The Eagle Point Estates neighborhood is off of Valencia and Vahalla.

The county is now evaluating access points where permanent barricades could be placed to prevent people from entering the desert.

"To be able to mitigate some of the traffic coming in on foot and on ATVs or on vehicles. That is all going to be taking place in the next several months with our Department of Transportation," Cano said.

Despite those efforts, neighbors say law enforcement presence has slowed, and shooting has picked back up. Resident Pete Smith said he has heard gunfire from his backyard multiple times in recent weeks.

"This is exactly where I hear the shots, and I come right to this wall. I hold my phone up, and I try to record the sound. I would say in the past two weeks, I've been out here three times, and it's coming from that direction," Smith said.

Smith said he recently called 911 and waited more than an hour for a response.

"I think it was like a Tuesday or Wednesday. Well, actually my first call was closer to 7:00 pm. My second call was closer to 8:00. You know, I didn't really understand why I had to call a second time," Smith said.

"He was saying that he didn't hear anything and, you know, in a very polite way, I just said, you know, you came a little late, but I did invite them the next time it happens for them to come to my backyard and then they can hear it for themselves."

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos acknowledged there is still work ahead and urged residents to keep reporting incidents.

"Don't give up. Keep calling us because we are still engaged and we threw a lot of resources ourselves. We have our special enforcement team, and we just grew that here," Nanos said.

Neighbor Jeremy Raymond said the situation has improved but wants more consistent communication from the county.

"I mean we live here, you know. I don't know if anybody that is responding to these calls lives out here to know, but we do, we see it, we see the response, we see the non-response, we see the non-communication. And you know, I just think if we need to keep this going, we need to have all that in place, and right now I see it kind of slipping away," Raymond said.

PCSD says they are deployed to the problem area on the weekends, but Raymond says the time of day matters.

"If we can get coverage on the weekends from about 10:30 at night till about five in the morning Friday through Sunday night, I think that would help out quite a bit because that's when the majority I hear it," Raymond said.

PCSD will be sending their special enforcement team out to the state land near the Eagle Point Estates this Labor Day weekend.

How we got here

• March: A bullet went through a couple's home in the Eagle Point Estates neighborhood.
• April 7: Neighbors' concerns were brought to Pima County Supervisor Andrés Cano.
• April 30: Supervisor Cano held a community meeting with the Sheriff's Department and the Arizona State Land Department. The ASLD decided to close the state trust land to recreational use.
• May: The PCSD initiated Operation Desert Silence to enforce the ban.
• May 8: No gunshots no problems - Westside neighbors happy with PCSD patrols
• July: Neighbors reported that despite the crackdown, gunfire continued.

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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.