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Study: Thousands of PHX PD calls should go to civilians PAUL MARYNIAK AFN Executive Editor
P
hoenix officials hope to implement “within a matter of months” the recommendations of an Arizona State University study for handing off thousands of calls for police service to civilian employees. After analyzing 200 different types of calls from examining the two million calls for service to Phoenix Police in 2021, the ASU study group recommended that civilians – or citizens
TU working to get special ed kids in Unified Sports
who made the calls – handle them rather than bother officers. Of those two million calls, it said, at least 200,000 could have been handled by someone other than a uniformed officer or self-reported by the person involved. Those calls include: minor accidents with no injuries, “civilian matter stand by” where an officer is called to be on hand for things like exchanges of a child between two people sharing custody, welfare checks, noise and parking complaints, burglar alarms, abandoned vehicles in neighborhoods and prop-
erty found by someone. The recommendations – which department officials told the committee they would work to implement within months rather than years – come at a time when Phoenix Police Department ranks are alarmingly depleted. Through early retirements and resignations – either for a different career or a higher paying job with another law enforcement agency – the number of available first-responder of-
see POLICE page 22
Animals’ best friend
BY ZACH ALVIRA AFN Sports Editor
U
nified Sports programs at local high schools have taken off in recent years – most notably in Mesa, spearheaded by Westwood High School Athletic Director Brady Pond. Pond helped build the program at Westwood, which eventually got the district involved, including former Desert Vista Athletic Director and current Mesa Public Schools Athletic Director Tommy Eubanks. Together, they added Unified programs at other Mesa schools which gave more opportunities to students in special education programs to showcase their athletic ability. Showcase events took place at local Mesa schools. Student athletes had the op-
see UNIFIED page 18
At age 12, Chloe Close of Ahwatukee has already become quite the organizer of drives to help the region’s animal shelters. Last Saturday, she brought her latest haul of everything from dog and cat food to collars and leashes to traveler cages to Gordie’s Goodies Pet Food and Supply store at 15425 S. 48th St., Ahwatukee, for distribution to shelters. It’s not the first time – or the last – that she’ll be doing that, as you can read on page 28. (David Minton/AFN Staff Photographer
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