Oro Valley's Crime and Traffic Statistics:Traffic Enforcement Leads By Far

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The Oro Valley Police Department released it's "Police Activity Summary" last week.  The statistics seem to reflect the nature of our community.

Here are some numbers of interest for the nine months year-to-date:


Crime

• 410 Thefts
• 60 Residential and Non Residential Burglaries
• 160 DUI's
• 106 Drug Offenses
• 1,180 Total Arrests
• 18 Drug Task Force Arrests
• 96 Violent Crimes (Robbery, Assault, Homicide)

Traffic

• 343 Accidents
• 2,903 Traffic Citations
• 3,696 Warnings

Public Service

• 1,382 Public Assists
• 1,986 First Aid Calls
• 14,951 Dark House Checks (A volunteer patrol activity)

2010 Violent Crime Statistics

There are a very low number of "violent crimes" in Oro Valley.  There were 96 such crimes or about 3 per 1000 Oro Valley residents.   This is about half of the City of Tucson's 2010 violent crime rate of 6.32 (Source).

Oro Valley's violent crime rate compares favorably to state and national numbers (based on 2010 data).  This, perhaps, is one of the advantages of being a "bedroom" community.

There is certainly the potential for violent crimes.  Oro Valley is not immune from violence.  Oracle Road is a major north-south artery that can be used for drug trafficking.

2010 Property Crime Statistics

Property crimes are a major challenge in Oro Valley.  These include thefts and burglaries. Apparently, property crime is a big problem in the state of Arizona!  Fortunately, Oro Valley's property crime rate is far less than that of the state.

One would expect to see an increase in property crime as our population increases and as the number of retail businesses grow.  So, it is really good idea to have and to use the alarm system in your residence.

Traffic enforcement is a major activity.  There were about 6,600 warnings and tickets issued in in nine months, an annualized rate of 209 per 1000 Oro Valley residents!  There were certainly more traffic stops than this since traffic stops would include arrests and searches.

How does Oro Valley's traffic enforcement statistics compare?  It's hard to tell.  A 2008 Arizona DPS Study noted more than 47,000 traffic stops in their Tucson region.  This would equate to about 47 stops per 1000 residents.  Based on this yardstick, Oro Valley's traffic enforcement rate would seem high.  Then, again, it would be interesting to compare this to the city of Tucson or the Pima County Sheriff Department's rate.
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