Gilbert Town Council: No place for violence, hate in community

The Gilbert Town Council extends its deepest condolences to those affected by the senseless acts of violence that resulted in the deaths of Preston Lord in Queen Creek, Hailey Stephens in Casa Grande and Jamiere Jenkins in Pinal County. These deaths occurred across a short span of time and are not the norm for our region so understandably our communities are unified in our cries for awareness and understanding.

Violence and hate have no place in our community, and the Gilbert Town Council strongly condemns violence of any kind. We are committed to continuing the policies and budget, tools and resources necessary for supporting a safe community. This commitment was recently highlighted in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which named Gilbert as the second safest city in America among the largest 100 cities. The Gilbert Police Department’s efforts within the community are numerous and include teen safety education via our school resource officers, a dedicated crime prevention team, and informative social media channels.

The Gilbert Police Department has been working with the Queen Creek Police Department to assist them with their thorough investigation. Police firmly believe Preston’s death and the death of Hailey in Casa Grande and Jamiere in Pinal County are unrelated. Arrests have been made in both the Casa Grande and Pinal County investigations, and the Queen Creek Police Department is actively working on their investigation and as it progresses, they are providing community updates via social media.

The Gilbert Police Department, Town Management and the Gilbert Town Council are aware of social media posts alleging police investigations involving a group of Gilbert individuals who have been targeting teens in the East Valley. The Town of Gilbert is committed to community safety and the Gilbert Police Department has investigated all reported incidents and taken the proper actions to ensure any concerning behaviors or trends are addressed promptly.

If you have any insight or relevant information regarding a crime, you are always encouraged to directly contact the Gilbert Police Department, or the appropriate jurisdiction, and are discouraged from posting details to social media in order to avoid the creation of confusion and the dissemination of misinformation. Most importantly, providing information directly to the police department ensures proper follow-up and/or thorough investigations are conducted which benefits the victim, the family of the victim and the community. We strongly urge you to contact Gilbert’s non-emergency line 480-503-6500 for non-emergency Gilbert related concerns and always dial 9-1-1 when witnessing a crime or in an emergency.