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Cactus Football coming/ P. 23
More tech arrivals/ P. 4
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Sunday, June 20, 2021
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | TheMesaTribune.com
Smile, Mesa: You’re on police cameras
INSIDE
This Week
BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
NEWS ............................ 6 MPS spending $4 million on phonics program.
C
riminals operating in Mesa might want to make sure their hair is combed and clothes are tidy: soon, they may be on Mesa Police Department cameras. This isn’t “Cops,” but it could be “Criminals.” At a study session Thursday, police outlined plans for a Real Time Crime Center. Though not likely to provide “Candid Camera”-style laughs, it could lead to arrests. By the end of this year, police here say they
want to go “24/7” with a video monitoring system the department already is dabbling in. The police want to have a center where they can monitor video feeds from Circle Ks and other businesses, parks, traf�ic cameras and even Ring cameras showing porch pirates and break-in artists. At the study session, Pat Phelps of technical services, and Police Commander Bob Rash pitched the idea as a lead-up to the Mesa City Council meeting tomorrow, June 21, when the Police Department will ask for $1 million for hardware and software to power up a high-
tech video surveillance system. Rash gave an example of current capabilities that sounded straight out of a Tom Cruise futuristic crime�ighter �lick. An of�icer was monitoring video at Pioneer Park, Rash said, when he saw a man being attacked. “The of�icer watched a violent crime take place and was able to put that information out immediately,” Rash said. “Within a minute, a minute-and-a-half tops, of�icers responded
��� CAMERAS ���� 10
Mesa man marks a bittersweet Father’s Day
COMMUNITY ............. 15 MAC reconnecting in person with Mesa.
GET OUT ...................... 27 Mesa restaurant a family affair COMMUNITY ............................... 15 BUSINESS ..................................... 18 OPINION .. ..................................... 21 SPORTS ........................................ 23 GET OUT ........................................ 26 PUZZLES ...................................... 29 CLASSIFIED ................................. 31 Zone
2
BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
I
n October, Tim Jackson, a lean, �it 6-footer, completed a half-marathon race, powering through 13 miles. Eight months later, the Mesa man hasn’t been running and is “the heaviest I’ve ever been,” having packed on some weight. His is not a “pandemic pounds” situation at a cozy, almost riotously energetic home near Lindsay and Broadway roads. Passing big-eyed, 5-month-old Timmy to his wife, Amber, Jackson barely blinks as a stuffed animal 2-year-old Charlotte tosses hits him in the face. Maxwell, 6, and Jude, 10, dart in and out of the frame as their father tells the story of the last six months, during which dad has rollercoastered through terrifying lows and thrill-
��� FATHERS ���� 8
Tim and Amber Jackson have four kids: Timmy, 5 months; Charlotte, 2; Maxwell, 6; and Jude, 10. (Pablo Robles/Tribune Staff Photographer)
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