The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
There is a movement, in cities large and small, of elected prosecutors reforming and reinventing our collective approach to public safety. As the Pima County Attorney elected last November, I’m part of that movement — one focused on preventing crime before it happens, accountability for people who commit harm and healing for those who’ve suffered it.
My election is the Pima County Attorney’s Office’s (PCAO) first major transition since Dennis DeConcini was elected as an outsider to the office in 1972. That’s a long time without major change — the kind of change that can and will make our community safer.
Unlike most of the new reform DAs who have taken office across the country, I did not fire any of the prosecutors from the prior administration. Nor did I lay down a definitive set of new policies. Instead, I chose to spend six months studying this agency’s operations over the last 44 years so that we’d retain all that is good about PCAO, while honoring our commitment to usher in smart reforms.
Here’s what I saw in those first six months:
Each department rose to the challenge of a new administration and of the extraordinary circumstances of a pandemic. The Criminal Division has tackled a COVID-driven backlog of 150 homicides. The Civil Division has worked tirelessly to turn out emergency legal advice to county agencies to keep our community safe during the pandemic. 88-Crime has continued to take phone calls around the clock.
And as if a historic transition, a pandemic and an increase in homicides that began in 2020 weren’t enough, our community endured a mass casualty incident just two weeks ago. Our hearts go out to the victims and the good people of the Vistas, Western Hills and Pueblo Gardens neighborhoods. Every day since, our PCAO Victim Advocates have been at area hospitals; our Victim Compensation professionals have worked with neighbors; and our Courthouse Dog, Baja, helped a little boy make his statement to police.
This is what I saw in the first six months. It’s how PCAO serves our community, and how powerful that service is, having been forged in the fire of this challenging transition. But, here’s what’s to come:
Each new policy we implement will be outcome-driven, supported by data and best practices. We’ve been briefed on a collection of PCAO data points from 2017 to 2021, with the gift of Ph.D. analyses from the Criminology Department at Arizona State University.
Over the next 30 days, our office will conduct internal training and share with stakeholders our new policies, which include directing simple drug possession arrests into the county’s first precharge diversion program; arguing before the court to detain only those who are an ongoing threat to the community; and offering probation in many nonviolent felony cases.
The savings that come from taking substance use disorder and mental health out of law enforcement and returning it to the medical and behavioral health realms is already driving resources where they need to be: our Domestic Violence, Special Victims, and Major Crimes units.
These policies will be published on our new website, launching soon. We will continue to do outreach across the county — whether we’re at a community cleanup or on a police ride-along — to make sure we are constantly informing and informed by the public.
PCAO is a cornerstone of public safety and victim advocacy that continues to endure in the most challenging times. What the community has now and will continue to have for at least the next three and half years is a tough, durable, brilliant team working at all hours to help build a safer and healthier Pima County.
In the first six months, this administration was forged in fire. For the professionals in this office, no challenge is impossible.
