From the desk of Councilwoman Thelda Williams
Recently, there were concerns raised regarding City of Phoenix Police services. Some information on social media, which was not from the Phoenix Police Department, described areas where police would not respond to, or where there were gaps in coverage. These supposed areas were “outside the seven-mile radius” of the police precincts. This information is not accurate. There was further speculation that the “seven-mile radius” could be something the Phoenix Fire Department uses for coverage around fire stations. This is also not accurate. There is no circular radius restricting fire, or police coverage.
The Phoenix Fire Department has stations all over the City of Phoenix and coverage overlaps. There is also a mutual aid agreement the city has with neighboring cities, so there will always be coverage throughout Phoenix. Mutual aid agreements could mean that fire apparatus from other cities occupy a City of Phoenix fire station in the event Phoenix resources are dedicated to a major event and additional coverage is required.
The Phoenix Police Department provides comprehensive patrol and investigative police services to the entire City of Phoenix twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to the Patrol Division, which includes Patrol Officers, Neighborhood Enforcement Officers and Community Action Officers, other police resources patrol and service the entire city. Other patrol support services include Air Support, Motor Traffic Officers, DUI Officers, K9 Officers, and Special Assignments Unit Officers.
The Phoenix Police Department has organized the entire City of Phoenix into Squad Areas and those Squad Areas are organized into Beats. All of these Beats, seven day a week, twenty-four hours a day, have Phoenix Police Officers assigned to them. Multiple times a day these Squad Areas and Beats are covered by more than one squad with overlapping hours. In addition to the seven main police stations there are 5 significant substations throughout the City. Phoenix Police Officers start and end their shifts from theses main stations and substation. During their shifts, Phoenix Police Officers are in the community responding to calls for service, conducting proactive patrols and engaging the community.
