Wanted: Safe Neighborhoods

Wanted: Safe Neighborhoods, a component of Arizona News is formed to serve the well being of Arizona neighborhoods starting with Phoenix. Starting with the central Phoenix district and eventually providing services in all neighborhoods, an Advisory Board of Directors will be formed to provide guidance.

The following programs will be included within each neighborhood modeled after the US Department of Justice's Community Policing Program:

Phoenix Police continue to hunt for two assailants: 2 Valley serial attackers

"Baseline Killer"

Crimes: 23, including murder, rape and robbery since August. Eight people have been killed.

Location: South Phoenix along Baseline Road between 31st Avenue and 48th Street; west Tempe; and east Phoenix between 24th and 40th streets and Thomas and Indian School roads.

Other information: Victims appear to be chosen randomly and often are grabbed in secluded areas after dark. Police believe that the Baseline Killer likely lurks in the area and has sometimes initiated contact before he attacked. Has worn disguises.

Description: Dark-skinned person of color, male, 25 to 30 years old, 5 feet 10 inches, 170, usually wearing a long-sleeved shirt and khaki pants. He also wears various hats and may now have short hair.

Latest confirmed crime: Homicide, June 29 at 29th Street and Thomas Road, Phoenix.

"Serial Shooter"

Crimes: 35 shootings since May 2005. Only four have been definitively linked by physical evidence, but police say the method, time of day and locations make them believe all the attacks may be related. Five people have been killed and 16 wounded. Three horses and five dogs also have been killed.

Location: Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Avondale and Tolleson.

Other information: Shooter targets people walking, biking or outside alone, usually between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.

Description: None. Vehicle may be a medium-size, light-colored, four-door sedan.

a. Police neighborhood programs with staff including former law enforcement officer to coordinate law enforcement and neighborhood watch type community programs in each district.

What is Community Policing from the Unites States Department of Justice?

Funding: United States Department of Justice Grants obtained by Action Arizona application and/or Arizona State Department of Public Safety funded by new Arizona legislation.

A central goal of the COPS Office is to help law enforcement agencies implement and enhance community policing. We have previously defined community policing as "a policing philosophy that promotes and supports organizational strategies to address the causes and reduce the fear of crime and social disorder through problem-solving tactics and police-community partnerships." In an effort to help discern what community policing is, what interactions between the police and citizens are central to this philosophy, and how the field should measure movement towards community policing, COPS has attempted to further outline the elements that are central to the philosophy of community policing.

This document is considered living, just like community policing itself, and it is meant to inform current practice and the discussion surrounding the advancement of community policing. It is not intended to be a prescriptive listing of central elements, but is meant to stimulate discussion in what is an ever-expanding body of experience and knowledge about the practice of community policing.

Community policing focuses on crime and social disorder through the delivery of police services that includes aspects of traditional law enforcement, as well as prevention, problem-solving, community engagement, and partnerships. The community policing model balances reactive responses to calls for service with proactive problem-solving centered on the causes of crime and disorder. Community policing requires police and citizens to join together as partners in the course of both identifying and effectively addressing these issues.