Community Update by City Manager Rosa Inchausti

Everyone has the right to feel safe. Police Chief Ken McCoy, Interim Fire Chief Darrell Duty, our Community Services Director Craig Hayton and our Community Health and Human Services Director Tim Burch often work together to find ways to not only make our community safer, but to implement programs and solutions to make our parks, our streets and our public spaces feel secure.

Feeling safe is knowing that there are people who will be there for you in your worst moments. Our park rangers provide a reassuring presence in our parks and preserves. Our Tempe Fire Medical Rescue answered nearly 30,000 calls, showing up for people in need in a matter of minutes. When seconds count, they are there with the tools, the training and the technology needed to save lives. And our Care 7 crisis response team is there alongside them, offering a calm hand in times of trouble.

It's important to me that we prioritize your safety, and we work proactively to ensure it. This year, we led the Valley in reducing violent crime. It went down by 21% in the first six months of 2025, and much of that can be attributed to work we've done in the last two years, including standing up the Real Time Operation Center, targeting street racing, and realigning police operations to be more focused and effective. And we heard you when you told us that safer streets were a concern by adding photo enforcement. Collisions in the intersections where it was implemented dropped by 20%.

This significant drop is our starting point for improving the feeling of safety for our parks and neighborhoods. We are continuing to build relationships between neighborhood residents and police officers, and will also work on the environmental changes we can make to improve safety in both parks and neighborhoods. Something as small as a street light in the right spot can make a real difference. If there is a way we can make you feel safer in your neighborhood, please reach out. We want to know.