MPD receives grant to fund bicycle patrols

Maricopa Police Chief Steve Stahl and Sgt. Elliot Sneezy told residents Saturday where their tax dollars are putting police officers and why.

“We deploy our people appropriately,” Stahl said, “They can’t be everywhere all the time so we have to strategically place them where they are most likely to be successful.”

During the June Coffee with the Chief, Stahl explained the police department gathers information searching for specific areas and times where crime spikes. Once the trends are determined, top officers in the department will form a mission plan for the week. Sergeants are given the plan to inform their patrol officers and to deploy accordingly.

“If police departments do random patrol you’re going to get random results and that’s not acceptable,” Stahl said. “We need to be at the right place at the right time for the right reasons.”

To help police, the department encourages the use of resident contacts and tip offs as a guide for patrol operations.

“They are the eyes of the street here,” Sneezy told the group gathered at Seven Cups Coffee. “It’s not me, it’s not the officers.”

Sneezy said he encourages people to contact police if they see doors open when they shouldn’t be, and if they observe any suspicious people or activity, abandoned houses or vehicles.

“It may not solve a crime, but it will put somebody in that location,” Sneezy said.

Also on Saturday, Stahl said the department may increase its use of bicycle teams and patrols. Officers will be trained to deploy at different times on different shifts.

Sneezy said police on bicycles can patrol places motor vehicles cannot. Parks and walkways, such as the greenbelt at The Villages, are the best places for a bike team to be deployed.