Aside from one or two significant anomalies the level of criminal activity in the Town of Fountain Hills has remained consistently low over the past five years. That is according to a report Maricopa County Sheriff’s Capt. Larry Kratzer presented to the Town Council on Sept. 3.

Kratzer presented Uniform Crime Report estimates for 2018 comparing Fountain Hills with six other Maricopa County municipalities. Four homicides in the community in 2018 were highly unusual and matched only among the comparison cities by Chandler, also with four, and Scottsdale with seven. Two of the murder incidents in Fountain Hills were associated with the same suspect as four of the Scottsdale homicides last year. None of the Fountain Hills homicides from 2018 remain unresolved.

In relation to the violent crime comparison with the other communities Fountain Hills has a rating of 1.3 incidents per 1,000 population. That is surpassed only by Gilbert with a rate of .9 incidents per 1,000 residents. Fountain Hills did have the lowest total number of violent crimes with 33.

There are five categories of violent crime used in the Uniform Crime estimates including homicide, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault. The other cities Kratzer included in the comparison are Buckeye, Apache Junction, Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert and El Mirage. Of those, Fountain Hills has the lowest population number at 24,987.

Property crime

Property crimes tracked by the Uniform Crime Report estimates include burglary, theft, auto theft and arson. The rate for Fountain Hills is higher than for violent crime with 10.4 per 1,000 population during 2018, which is well below all of the other comparison cities.

Burglary and theft lead the property crimes numbers for Fountain Hills with 56 burglaries and 196 thefts during 2018. The 2019 numbers are on track to match or surpass last year’s. The January through July numbers show 33 burglaries and 139 thefts.

The number of auto theft incidents in 2019 is at nine, already past the 2018 total of six. In May this year Fountain Hills was targeted by a gang involved in stealing items from unsecured vehicles and, in a couple of incidents, stealing cars to make their getaway and also leaving behind a previously stolen vehicle. On May 3, the spree resulted in seven reports of theft from vehicles. There was one stolen vehicle report that day, but also recovery of stolen vehicles.

The numbers for arson incidents in Fountain Hills are few. There were a total of five between 2014 and 2018, with two more on the books so far in 2019.

While the crime rate has remained low for Fountain Hills the work load for deputies has shown increases over the past five years, according to Kratzer.

The calls for service received by the district have increased 37 percent from 2014 (4,598) and 2018 (6,290). From January through July 31 in 2019 MCSO has received 3,676 calls for service for the district, on track for an estimated total of 6,664 for the 2019 calendar year.

Deputies wrote 1,407 reports in 2018, a 13 percent increase over the 1,023 in 2014 with a consistent increase each year except 2016 when there was a drop. For the first seven months of 2019 there were 885 reports by deputies, or 73 percent of the average of the past five years.

The types of calls most received by deputies in the course of a day are fairly consistent over time, but also remarkably mundane. The top two calls received by deputies over 2017, 2018 and thus far in 2019 are false burglar alarms (1,955) and welfare checks (1,922). Others on the list, in no particular order, include audible burglar alarm, citizen/motorist assist, suspicious person or activity, traffic hazards and vehicle crashes.

Fountain Hills law enforcement is staffed by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office under contact by the town. There is one commander (Captain), one deputy commander (lieutenant), seven sergeants, 22 patrol deputies, three detectives, one volunteer and one civilian administrative assistant.

Kratzer cautions that the numbers presented in the report are estimates based on the investigative and resolution processes.