MESA TRIBUNE SOUTHEAST ZONE, MAY 1, 2022

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Surf’s down at Mesa lagoon / P. 2

MPS board debates raises / P. 3

An edition of the East Valley Tribune

INSIDE

This Week

COMMUNITY............ 1 5 Mackenzie Paprocki stands next to one of dad's Lego creations.

BUSINESS.............. 1 8 Mesa restaurateur specializes in eastern European fare.

SPORTS................ 2 2 A Mesa athlete was among senior football players honored. COMMUNITY................................. 15 BUSINESS....................................... 18 OPINION......................................... 20 SPORTS........................................... 22 GET OUT......................................... 24 CLASSIFIED.................................... 27 Zone 2

Sunday, May 1, 2022

FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | TheMesaTribune.com

Hot-spot strategy is cooling violence, police say BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer

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esa Police Department officials told Mesa City Council’s public safety committee that an initiative to attack crime hot spots with a surge of officers for a limited period of time has helped the department lower violent crime in Mesa amid a national rise. While overall crime in Mesa, including property crimes, is slightly up from last year, police said the city saw a 14% drop in violent incidents in the first quarter of 2022 compared

with the same period in 2021. They attributed the progress to a recently launched program that will target violent crime by drawing personnel from every division of the force together in a specific location every night for two weeks, once per quarter. Patrol officers, gang and narcotics specialists, and “shirt and tie” detectives will work side-by-side to make seizures and arrests seen as most likely to prevent violent crime, such as drug dealing, illegal gun possession and outstanding warrants. Chief Ken Cost told council in April that Mesa is one of the safest large cities in the U.S.,

but it still has its share of violent crime. “People get in arguments and the guns come out, and gun play is a huge deal right now,” Cost said in April. At a community forum last year, Cost said, “we know that it’s the street level drug dealing that is turning into violent crimes.” To try to head off a rise in violent crime last summer, Mesa PD rolled out a 15-week summer program. After analyzing violent crime between May and December of 2021 and seeing a decrease in violence, Mesa PD leader

Mesa prepares novel Glory be! domestic violence court BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer

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hough it currently enjoys a relatively low crime rate, Mesa is not immune to the scourge of domestic violence. It’s a serious problem in the city: Mesa had eight domestic violence-related homicides in 2020 – a significant increase from the city’s four domestic violence homicides the previous year. The harm domestic violence does to victims and the wider community can be highly visible, such as when offenders

escalate to killing partners or family members. The damage can also lie beneath the surface, such as when children witness smaller acts of violence and their development is impacted. “I think one of the real tragedies of domestic violence is it typically harms the most vulnerable of society,” Assistant City Prosecutor Paul Hawkins said. “It takes a relationship that’s supposed to be a safe relationship and makes it ugly and dangerous and destructive. As a society, we

see COURT page 4

see POLICE page 4

Volunteer Sharon Lambard helps Jean Farrell, left, and Anne Franklin dip strawberries in chocolate at the new Mesa nonprofit called Glory Days. It fills a critical need among the elderly but needs help. See page 11. (Courtesy of Chelsea Kleve)

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