The Apache Junction Police Department is fully staffed with 95 sworn officers and 51 professional staff members, including officers assigned to area schools, Police Chief Michael Pooley told the city council recently.
Included in the sworn police officers are eight school resource officers, or SROs, in Apache Junction and one in Gold Canyon, he said at the council’s March 4 meeting during an AJPD update.
“They are at all of our schools ... to include Peralta Trail, which is the elementary school in Gold Canyon,” Pooley said.
“Over the last three years we’ve hired 49 police officers for the Apache Junction Police Department and we are completely fully staffed and we have a line of people that want to join our police department, so we’re really happy about that,” he said.
Eleven of AJPD’s employees are licensed to use the department’s 13 drones, he said.
The unmanned aerial vehicles have been used to help find suspects in the desert, others who were hiding under a tree in the backyard of a home, and also to stop people from shooting guns in the desert.
“We’ve used these for several different things,” Pooley said. “A couple examples that we’ve used these drones is we assisted Pinal County Sheriff’s Office on some subjects that ran from a vehicle and when we were able to pull our drone out we were able to locate both of these suspects in the desert. We had another one ... we used for some suspects who ran from another vehicle — they jumped in somebody’s yard hiding under some trees. We were able to use the drones to find these people and pull them out.
“Another one was a shooting, where people were shooting out in the desert and instead of our officers driving out there to confront them, we were able to use the drone, make commands and they were able to make contact with these individuals. A much safer way. It was great to have that technology at our hands,” he said.
In 2024, according to Pooley’s presentation, drones were used at the following:
13 flights for accident investigations.
51 flights for patrol operations.
226 flights for special weapons and tactics, or SWAT, operations.
73 flights for training.
70 flights for special events support.
Two flights for search and rescue.
Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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