Bits and Pieces

Oro Valley Water launches new account management web portal

The Oro Valley Water Department launched a new account management web portal on August 26. The old portal, which was really nothing more than a bill access and payment, is no longer active. The new portal has several added features, including an account profile page and detail usage billing information.  You can also pay your bill via the site. The portal has nothing to do with the town’s Water Smart web site. That site allows users to track water use on a continuing basis. You will need to sign up here for the new account management billing portal. It took us about five minutes to do so.

“Rockin’4Heroes”, Sunday, October 16, 2PM, Kreigh Park
“Rocking 4 Heroes is a community musical event that pays tribute to those who serve our communities and country. It was initiated by Michael and Bonnie Quinn, longtime residents of Oro Valley Arizona. The Quinn's have a history of supporting First Responders, Active-Duty Military, Veterans and Gold Star families…

The first “Rockin'4Heroes” event was held December 11, 2021 in collaboration with the Greater Oro Valley Chamber of Commerce and was well received by the community. Charitable donations allowed the concert to be brought to the public free of charge in hopes that more of the community would attend and shine a brighter light on our Heroes.” (Source: rockin4heroes.org) 

Parks and Recreation survey and open house For Residents Over 55

“The Town of Oro Valley is working to broaden and improve access to recreational programs for seniors, and we need your help! An online survey is available now through September 30 that asks for public input on the type of programming that is of greatest interest to Oro Valley residents ages 55 and older. Click here to access the online survey… Open House September 29.” The town is hosting an “… an in-person open house for residents interested in senior programming on September 29, from 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. at the Community & Recreation Center fitness room (10555 N. La Cañada Drive).” (Source: Town of Oro Valley Press Release).

 

Next Community Academy announced

The Community Academy is an excellent way for resident to learn about the town and how it works. The next one will start on October 6. It will be conducted in both the in person and on line modes. Learn more and register here.

Riley featured in podcast

The Town of Oro Valley has a podcast. Chief Riley is featured in the most recent one. You can access it here. 

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New Police Facility: Time To Start The Conversation

New Police Facility: Time To Start The Conversation

At a council session in September, Council Member Solomon said that the town needs a new police facility. He guesstimated a cost of $30 million. We had not heard of this. So we asked Oro Valley Police Chief Kara Riley.

A new facility is on the horizon. 

During the town council’s February Strategic Planning Session, Chief Riley discussed a new facility in relation to the changing landscape of public safety: Aligning staff to deal more with mental health calls and bolstering the town’s criminal investigations unit to name two. “In doing this, we began to realize our space needs.” 

The conversation needs to start regarding a new police facility

According to Chief Riley, having a new facility within five to six years is a clear need. Getting there is a “heavy lift” as Chief Riley noted in our conversation last week. 

Today there is 42,500 square feet spread over four facilities

Oro Valley is far bigger than the town it was in 1994, when the town built the current 15,000 square foot police headquarters on La Canada. Since that time the town has added two substations. One is the 3,500 square foot leased facility (“Tangerine SubStation”) located in the Oro Valley Market Place that opened in 2010. The other is the 22,000 square foot “Daniel G Sharp Substation and Evidence Facility” [“Magee”] opened in 2019.

Prior to 1994, town opened a sub station in Rancho Vistoso. That substation was agreed upon as a condition of the annexation of Rancho Vistoso in 1987. 

Today, then, there are four facilities used by the department, comprising 42,500 square feet.

 

The town has grown considerably over the years.

The footprint of the town was  24 square miles in 1994 . Half of that was Rancho Vistoso. Today, the footprint of the town is 36 square miles. The population of the town was 9,000.  Now Oro Valley has 47,000 people. The town’s population continues to grow daily as construction fills existing areas. Add to this the town’s annexation plans. Annexations will further expand Oro Valley’s geography and population. 

The number of people working for the department has more than doubled since 1994. “We had 53 people when we moved in in 1994. Now I currently manage 135. Our substations are filling up.”

And it is a very different community

In 1994, people from Tucson referred to Oro Valley as "way out in Oro Valley." The town was more rural than suburban. The were no traffic lights on Oracle Road. In fact, there was not Rooney Ranch shopping center. No gas stations. Oracle was two lanes each way and then one lane past Tangerine. The Oro Valley Marketplace was farmland. Policing in 1994 was far different than policing today.

Need to look at the next twenty plus years

According to Chief Riley, “We’re at capacity” with the facilities in place today. Thus, it's time to look at future needs. She believes that a new facility must be able to accommodate growth the twenty years. Police facilities are vey unique. “You also have to keep in mind that we have the public answering service for 911. You not only have holding cells and training needs but you also have the 911 center and records so its big, large and intricate.” In addition, there are training facilities and wellness areas.” And K-9 areas! 

“When you think you have built it big enough it almost has to be bigger because you just don’t know what the future will hold with regards to any growth.” 

At the moment There are no plans for a future station.

It is time to start the conversation.

Manning the Skies: The OVPD UAV Program

Not in your backyard
If an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly called a “drone”, is hovering over your house, it’s definitely not operated by the Oro Valley Police Department. “We don’t use our UAV’s for surveillance on our citizens.” This according to Lieutenant John Teachout of the Oro Valley Police Department. 

Teachout is the department’s Special Operations Lieutenant. Among his many responsibilities is the oversight of the town’s UAV program. This is a program that currently has five UAV’s, piloted by fourteen FAA licensed police officers. 

 
UAV use pilot tested at the 2017 Oro Valley Music Festival
The town’s UAV program started at the 2017 Oro Valley Music Festival. “I was responsible for overseeing the security.” The event was taking place shortly after the tragic Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on the Las Vegas Strip. The Saguarita Police Department had recently started a UAV program. Teachout asked them to bring their UAV to the event to see how it would work the perimeter security. He was looking for bad guys and suspicious vehicles, such as unusual people coming into the event “…in the middle of the summer with a trench coat.” Fortunately, there were none that day. John found that the UAV’s provided another use. That was the better deployment of the officers handling security around the facility. 

Sharp sees the UAV program… starts program
After learning of these positive results, Then Police Chief Daniel Sharp told John to “start the program.” Armed with about $25,000 in confiscated racketeering funds, Teachout took on the task of learning more about the technology and the UAV options. He selected DJI as the platform to use. “They have the bulk of the market.” The town bought three UAVs. Now they have five. All are controlled using the Global Positioning System (“GPS”). 

UAVs serve two primary uses
The UAV’s are used for two primary purposes: “Search and Rescue” and “Crime Scene Mapping.”
Sergeant Marshall Morris responsible for the operation of the UAV program, demonstrated how it is used for mapping traffic accident scenes. “We set placards on the ground in the area and use those as the guides for mapping.” The UAV will “…go through a flight pattern and take a bunch of photos. We download those to software that puts the photos together into a 3D like image.” 

 
This method is much more accurate than the previous method of walking the grid; taking pictures and measurements. It is more readily accepted in court, if needed. UAV mapping has the advantage of allowing the officers to open the road more quickly. “People don’t like to be delayed.“ 

Nab the bad guys
Occasionally, the UAV is used on a criminal investigation. For example, the Department used them to for surveillance on an alleged illegal drug operation in Pima County. The operation was selling the illegal drugs in Oro Valley. They were operated pursuant to a warrant. The Department needed to us an aerial surveillance approach because the property had seven foot walls surrounding it. They hovered at 400 feet and were able to use what they had to “nab the bad guys.” 

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A shout out to our Police Department:

Lieutenant John Teachout is the town’s special operations Lieutenant. He oversees the officers (motorcycle officers, crash investigators, DUI officers), the canine program, the regional motorcycle training program, regional asset teams, and the UAV program. He has been on the force for 26 years doing “Mostly uniform stuff”. He has served under three chiefs: Werner Wolfe, who subsequently became a town council member; Dan Sharp, who is a 2022 candidate for Mayor; and current chief, Kara Riley. There were 15 officers when he joined the department. There are more than 100 today. 

Oro Valley Police Chief Riley Manages In A Crisis

Managing in a crisis 
Kara Riley has been Oro Valley's Police Chief for thirteen weeks. Most of that time, Riley has been dealing with the impact of Covid-19 and the resultant economic shutdown. According to Riley, "Its been very busy but very rewarding."

First step: Protect the Officer
Working on ensuring that the police force was healthy and could maintain its health was the first step. "We immediately began mitigating things and looking at their personal protective equipment ("PPE")." Initial focus was on dispatchers and first line patrol officers.

To an extent, the officers were already prepared.  In 2017, Lt. John Teachout invented a “Go Bag”. Every officer gets one the day they start. It has PPE gear such as an N95 mask, booties, a full outfit, and gloves. In addition, the spouse of one officer made masks for all.

Some procedures were changed to protect the officer. For example, rather than stepping into a home on a call, the officer will ask residents to step out to reduce exposure.

In addition, the town has altered its: "You call for a cop. You get a cop." approach. Medical calls go to Golder Ranch Fire District ("GRFD"). A police officer joins the call if there is potential violence involved.

The challenge is to protect the health of the officer and the caller. The result is that there have been no officer exposures to Covid-19 and no active cases.


Second Step: Reach out to the senior community
"We've reached out and phoned every member [of the voluntary police], 100 people, to make sure that they are doing OK. Daily we reach out to Sun City just to make sure that there is nothing we are missing with our senior community. They are our most vulnerable. I want to insure that they have everything that they need." This includes following up on the many calls the department received from worried family members requesting house checks.

Third Step: Stay ahead of the "bad guys"
Oro Valley's retail stores are opening. Riley anticipates an increase in crimes of opportunity, particularly shoplifting. "I believe we will see an uptick in crimes there."

Use a community approach to Covid-19 restriction enforcement
The Oro Valley Police have taken a soft approach to enforcement of restrictions. The officer provides a letter of rules and recommendations when there is a complaint. "And then, we leave it at that."  Enforcement in this area is a challenge because "...these are not laws we were brought up under."

Focus on seamless service
"We want residents to see no transition," regardless of how long the pandemic emergency lasts. When it comes to our town, "Service will be seamless."
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