Phoenix mayoral candidates addressed how they would deal with crime if elected to office. Year-to-year violent crime in Phoenix since 2021 has decreased. (File photo by Emma Peterson/Howard Center for Investigative Journalism)
PHOENIX – Statistics say violent crime in Phoenix is not dramatically increasing, and it has actually decreased over a multiyear time span, with some monthly dips and jumps.
Nationwide trends are somewhat similar; data from the FBI released in June showed that reported violent crime decreased nationwide by 15.2% from January to March in comparison to the same time period in 2023.
When Mayor Kate Gallego assumed office in March 2019, violent crime in Phoenix was at a monthly total of 800, according to Real-Time Crime Index, a site supported by Arnold Ventures and AH Datalytics that tracks reported crimes in hundreds of cities.
That number hit a monthly total of 986 in October 2020, but it has since dipped to 846 in August. Total violent crimes have not fluctuated dramatically since 2018, although there was an increase in the summer of 2020. According to crime experts, major trends and events in a national context can influence crime.
“We certainly occasionally have these major impacts, like the COVID pandemic,” said Michael Scott, a clinical professor of criminology and criminal justice at Arizona State University and the director of its Center for Problem-Oriented Policing.
After the COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S. in early 2020, violent crime increased in Phoenix between then and July 2021.
In a statement provided by her campaign, Gallego defended her investments in improving public safety. She said violent crime is down in Phoenix and pointed to the opening of a real-time crime operations center.
She also said she and the city council have adopted emergency response practices that don’t “always mean an armed police officer,” including expansion of the Community Assistance Program, which responds to situations where someone isn’t committing a crime.
“We always have more to do to ensure Phoenix is a safe place to call home, and though our focus on data-driven public safety is making an impact, we must keep going. I remain committed to the work ahead,” Gallego’s statement said.
Related story
Despite investments in public safety programs, a Department of Justice investigation of the Phoenix Police released in June found civil rights violations by the department to be a “pattern.”
Recent Phoenix Police scandals have included a video of officers burning a man against hot pavement in July and officers Tasering and punching Tyron McAlpin, a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy, in August, then proceeding to charge McAlpin with felony aggravated assault and resisting arrest. The charges were later dropped.
Gallego’s opponent, Matt Evans, blamed Gallego for the DOJ investigation.
He said it “stems from actions that happened under Kate’s leadership,” and that she “has been on the City Council for 10 years – this didn’t just happen overnight.”
Gallego was elected to the Phoenix City Council in 2017 and became mayor in 2019.
Evans also said that under Gallego “crime and homelessness have spiraled out of control due to policies that prioritize optics over effective solutions.”
Homelessness has increased in Maricopa County since Gallego took office. However, numbers from the county Point-in-Time Homelessness Count decreased from 9,642 people to 9,435 between 2023 and 2024, according to data from the Maricopa Association of Governments.
Evans took issues with what he called “superficial efforts” such as chilled water programs, and he also said Gallego insists housing solves homelessness while “neglecting essential strategies like data-driven approaches, rehabilitation, mental health treatment, and addiction services.”
Evans also said her “mismanagement” of the former location where some homeless people used to live, called “The Zone,” showed how Gallego “doesn’t understand what’s needed to make Phoenix safe.”
Related story
The city of Phoenix removed people experiencing homelessness from the area after a court-ordered deadline was issued to clear the location. The city said many of those people were placed in shelters or offered other services.
Evans said he would bring a “fundamentally different approach” to office, which would emphasize “data and transparency to drive our public safety measures.” He voiced support for a “strong police force,” providing resources for “mental health and rehabilitation sources” and using data to “allocate resources directly to high-crime areas.”
“This November, it isn’t Kate Gallego vs. Matt Evans; it’s Kate Gallego vs. the people of Phoenix,” Evans said.
Big cities can use certain strategies to bring down crime, said ASU professor Scott, who added most people don’t commit violent crimes, and cities need to identify the small number of people who do and “interrupt their pattern of violent offending.”
“The best thing that most cities can do is to learn about and then adopt, design and place management practices that reduce the opportunities for crime to occur,” Scott said.
If Gallego wins Tuesday’s mayoral election, it would be her third mayoral victory. If Evans wins, it would be seen as a surprise victory. The Arizona Republic recently reported the Gallego campaign has $1.4 million on hand while the Evans campaign is in the red.
