15% of people commit 75% of crime

Locking your vehicle doors, installing home burglary alarms, and the importance of calling 911 were the main topics of conversation at the monthly Coffee with the Chief hosted Saturday by the M.A.S.H Coalition and put on by the Maricopa Police Department.

“Violent crime in Maricopa is pretty low,” said MPD Cmdr. James Hughes. “That allows us to focus more on property crime.”

Hughes was joined by Ricardo Alvarado, MPD public affairs specialist, and Block Watch coordinator Terrell Hoffman at Saturday’s meeting.

“Some criminals are stupid, but not all of them are,” Hughes said. “When you park your car, take your valuables out. Leaving them there just invites crime on your vehicle. And make sure you lock your doors.”

Hughes urged community member to document their high-priced items.

“Write down your television’s serial number, as well as your iPad’s or smartphone’s or whatever,” Hughes said. “You can take pictures; you don’t have to go crazy, but keeping some information on your valuables will help with their recovery if they’re stolen.”

Hughes said Block Watch volunteers are continually reporting suspicious vehicles or people, calling them a “force multiplier.”

“Seventy-five percent of crime in this town is done by only 15 percent of the people,” he said. “This is a great community; I moved my whole family here. There is a difference between being proactive and paranoid and you’re helping the police department keep everyone safe.”

In taking questions about calling 911, Alvarado reminded audience members the number is reserved for emergencies.

“You can’t just say, ‘This isn’t an emergency’ to 911 operators because that is a dedicated line. It cannot be transferred to a nonemergency line and you’ll hold up that particular one until the call is over.”

He asked community member to be patient when calling the nonemergency number.

“Do not hang up if the nonemergency line continually rings and rings. We don’t have the ability to put you on hold and have you listen to fancy music,” he said. “It rings until one of us can grab it.”

That number is 520-568-3673.

During Hoffman’s turn, she said that there is a real need to call the police if something bad happens.

“One time, a woman was having her house broken into, and the burglar’s flashlight beamed right in her face. She got scared, but instead of calling the police, she got on Facebook and went to her Block Watch’s page and asked if anyone else was noticing anything suspicious.

“You have to call 911 in a situation like that,” Hoffman said.

David French, a 43-year-old resident of Maricopa, said he came to Coffee with the Chief Saturday to keep up with what was going on in his neighborhood.

“I think this is important,” he said. “This is literally a direct line to the administration where we get unfiltered information.”

French said he wished the audience had been more diverse and not mostly senior citizens.