TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A Tucson bicyclist was stabbed to death during his Tuesday evening ride along the loop in late September.
The crime happened just two months after a security patrol program ended that was being tested by the county along the loop.
A police investigation led to an arrest after several witnesses came forward.
KGUN9 News Anchor Concetta Callahan went to Pima County’s Office of Housing Opportunity and Homeless Solutions to see what came of the Chuck Huckelberry Loop Patrol Program.
She sat down with their director, Jenifer Darland.
Darland explained that for 10 months, security officers patrolled problem spots determined by the Parks Department.
Patrols were out there from sundown to 2 a.m., 7 days a week.
Jenifer said patrols saw a lot of drug activity.
From drug deals to drug use, but not camps set up along the loop.
“We were seeing more trash; we were seeing more foils," Darland said. "You’ll hear people working in that space cleaning up the debris, seeing more drug paraphernalia, even you’ll see warming fires in some of those areas too, again that’s not necessarily an illegal activity in that space, but you just start to see some of the things that would suggest that there were people engaging in recreational drug use."
The Santa Cruz section of the loop saw a lot of this delinquent activity.
Parks workers report that these areas are always trashed when they show up in the morning.
At both the Congress East and West banks.
Jenifer said parks with restrooms and ramadas are the most problematic areas.
So, does the county plan to bring back the patrols?
Darland says—no.
She said patrols would vacate the groups and they’d just move to another spot along the loop; felt like they kept chasing the problem.
She added that not a single person in the 10 months these patrols were out accepted help from their office to navigate the resources available.
Suggesting the problem isn’t solely a homeless issue.
