Ask the Editor: Has Paradise Valley crime gone down during COVID-19?
Since stay-at-home orders have been issued and many people are spending a lot of time indoors, those of us in the virtual newsroom have noticed a slight change in the police reports we receive from Paradise Valley Police Department: there are minimal citations to report.
In fact, one week --- April 2-8 --- there were zero arrests to report, Paradise Valley police officials said.
The last seven week’s worth of reports as reported by the Independent show:
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Since stay-at-home orders have been issued and many people are spending a lot of time indoors, those of us in the virtual newsroom have noticed a slight change in the police reports we receive from Paradise Valley Police Department: there are minimal citations to report.
In fact, one week --- April 2-8 --- there were zero arrests to report, Paradise Valley police officials said.
The last seven week’s worth of reports as reported by the Independent show:
Feb. 27-March 4: five arrests
March 5-11: one arrest
March 12-18: two arrests
March 19-25: one arrest
March 26-April 1: two arrests
April 2-8: zero arrests
April 9-15: three arrests.
Paradise Valley Police Department Cmdr. Freeman Carney says compared to last April, data shows crime rates have, in fact, decreased.
“Data shows that compared to last April, crime rates have decreased in Paradise Valley by approximately 50% per April’s UCR numbers to date,” Cmdr. Carney said. “However, we encourage residents to remain vigilant and report any suspicious behavior to the police because crimes have not completely seized within our town.”
It’s unknown if crime rates are down because of the stay-at-home orders, and Cmdr. Carney says the department can only speculate as to the reason.
“It is difficult to quantify and we can only speculate that it is a combination of both criminals staying at home and residents staying at home,” he said. “If we can minimize the opportunities for crime by locking doors and setting alarms, we can work together to reduce the current crimes.”
In addition, there have not been any specific crimes increases --- such as domestic violence or assault --- he said.
Cmdr. Carney encourages residents to see current crime trends by using the crime stats and map at ParadiseValleyPD.com.
“Overall, it appears it could be a trend Valley-wide, but we can only speak for what is happening in Paradise Valley,” he said.
The community crime map located online, which is powered by LexisNexis, does paint a good visual for how little crime is occurring in town compared to its larger neighbors of Scottsdale and Phoenix.
The online map gives users the opportunity to look at specific crimes, addresses, locations and departments. For the municipal bounds of Paradise Valley, from Feb. 28-April 23, one residential burglary appears.
The difference between the crime map and reported arrests comes down to the fact that arrests can be made days, weeks or months after a reported crime.
“If detectives follow up on a crime that occurred several months ago and make an arrest it would not show up as a new crime on the map for the current month, but it would show up in info that is sent to you as an arrest for that month,” Cmdr. Carney said.
The Town of Paradise Valley Independent newspaper prints arrests reports on page 4 of its weekly publication.
Melissa Rosequist Managing Editor | East Valley @mrosequist_
I first started my journalism portfolio at the age of 15 while in high school before going on to study at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Being in the journalism field is the only professional avenue I was ever interested in, and have worked hard covering topics from school boards to hard news while working for the Independent, where I have been awarded for my reporting.
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