TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Tucson's new police chief is putting an even stronger push on policing at the neighborhood level. That calls for a stronger push from the neighbors themselves.
Police say to protect your own neighborhood do not hesitate to call 911 over suspicious activity even if what you saw does not seem like an emergency.
Police say your slice of information could help them build the big pictures that can cut down crime.
Tucson Police are re-organizing to shift scarce resources onto patrol but to protect neighborhoods they will always depend on the neighbors themselves.
Crimereports.com uses official police reports to paint produce maps of crime patterns.
The sheer volume of incidents the maps show seems overwhelming but police say they want more calls.
Captain Kevin Hall, who commands TPD’s Midtown division says calls show neighbors are watching out for their neighborhoods and each other and he says if you see a crime scene in your neighborhood feel free to ask officers what just happened near your home.
For zip code 85716, which includes the Palo Verde Neighborhood Association, calls include assault with a deadly weapon, robbery and vehicle theft.
Ronni Kotwica, the neighborhood association president there says it's a challenge convincing people they should call 911 and report what they see.
"They can call everybody in the world but when it comes to calling the police, and making a call that makes sense, giving good descriptions and everything, they have a terrible time doing that."
Police say, if you hear a gunshot, for instance, don't blow it off, call it in and call it in with as much precision as you can muster because if you call in and say, “I heard a gunshot at about one o'clock,” and another neighbor heard a gunshot about one o'clock, and a third heard a gunshot at about one o'clock, police can mark those locations, triangulate them, and have a better chance of finding the shooter.
All because neighbors were pulling together to protect their neighborhood.
