The 3 Valleys police services cooperate

PHOENIX – Teenagers hoping to get into trouble in the East Valley during fall break should be careful.

Police officers from various departments are teaming up to reduce juvenile crime rates through a new initiative called Operation Safe Fall.

This is similar to a summer youth violence crackdown launched by the Mesa Police Department from May 23 to July 31.

“We partner with Gilbert and Queen Creek ourselves,” Mesa Police Chief Ken Cost said. The Mike Broomhead Show from KTAR News 92.3 FM Wednesday. “We all have that focus. It’s a similar goal we have with Safe Summer.

The summer operation was a great success, he added. During this operation, officers issued 76 tickets for curfew violations to teenagers.

“The curfew leads to violence,” Cost said. “Teenagers are out after hours, they’re not doing anything right. They go to parties, they bring guns to parties.

How will Operation Safe Fall work?

“We know fall break is a holiday,” Cost said. “Holidays can cause problems on weekends, at night and late at night. »

To ensure that adolescents respect the law when they are not in school, the various police services are increasing patrols.

“We are all putting in extra patrols to enforce party calls, the underage curfew and alcohol,” Cost said. “All the same categories of categories for teen violence. »

The increased number of patrols under Operation Safe Fall will help police departments in Mesa, Gilbert and Queen Creek proactively deter youth violence, he added.

“We’re all here to do this together,” Cost said.

There is already a successful precedent for this model. Preliminary crime data suggests that incidents of teen violence have declined since Operation Safe Summer.

Now Cost is hoping to catch lightning in a bottle twice.

Why is the Valley Police Department focused on youth violence?

Leaders from all three police departments hope this Safe Fall enforcement operation will provide local families with a safe, crime-free holiday season.

It’s a particularly powerful desire in the wake of a series of threats that are shaking schools across the Valley.

In Phoenix, a teenager was arrested for allegedly making threats of mass shootings against a dozen local schools.

In the West Valley, Surprise police arrested four elementary school students for threatening a classmate.