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Former Phoenix Mayor Blamed for Being Robbed

It’s fairly unusual when a person is blamed for being the victim of a crime. But that’s exactly what the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association says about the recent robbery of former Phoenix mayor and current congressional candidate Greg Stanton. The Association is the union representing the rank-and-file police officers. Their position appears to be that […]

Aggravated Robbery in Phoenix

A headline last week stated that two teenagers, one if them a minor, were arrested for allegedly committing “aggravated robbery” (actually a string of aggravated robberies) in West Phoenix. Most people are aware that crimes often have several different classifications, depending upon the circumstances. Examples include assault/aggravated assault, criminal damage/aggravated criminal damage, identity theft /aggravated […]

Bogus Crime Statistics in Buckeye, AZ

For several years, Buckeye, Arizona has reveled in its claim that it is the safest city in the Valley, if not in all of Arizona. In particular, the city has reported to the FBI (and to the public) extremely low violent crime numbers. City officials claimed that they were simply using the FBI categorization of […]

Violent Crime Data for Phoenix Metro Cities is Suspect

ABC has compiled data which it says accurately ranks Phoenix Metro cities according to which cities have the greatest (or fewest) violent crimes per 1,000 residents. The results are interesting, although in some cases not surprising. In addition, we’ve looked at that data, and we have some questions of our own. The first involves the […]

What is the Law in Arizona on Hate Crimes?

A recent article reported on an attack that took place this month in Scottsdale. The victim says he was stabbed while the defendant called him the n-word over and over. The title of the piece says that there are those who want the attack to be labeled a “hate crime.” The article also refers to […]

Reported Increase in Phoenix Homicides Reflects National Trend

Homicides are up in Phoenix compared with 2016. While this may seem like a chilling statistic, it follows a historic low number of homicides in 2015. The statistics will be used by pundits to “prove” various political theories, such as the effect of sanctuary city status, among others. But we think it’s a mistake to […]

Violent Crime Reports Misinterpreted

Every time anyone announces new crime statistics, pundits everywhere seem to know, without any investigation whatsoever, what the stats mean, why they are what they are, and the clear solution to the perceived problem. Well, September is the month when the FBI releases its tally of the crime data for the previous year, and last […]

Case Dismissed against Freeway Shooting Suspect

The case against the man charged with a number of the freeway shootings in Phoenix has fallen apart. After being arrested in September of last year, and spending seven months behind bars, the charges against Leslie Merritt, Jr. have been dismissed. You’ll recall that there were a series of unsolved shootings on the Interstate 10 […]

Charges against “freeway shooter” to be dropped!

Charges against Leslie Merritt, Jr., labeled a “domestic terrorist” by the police, will be dismissed, according to a motion filed late last week by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Merritt was facing charges of drive-by shooting and aggravated assault, among others, in connection with shootings that took place on Phoenix freeways, where 11 vehicles were […]

Self-Defense Issues in Pima County Shooting

Much has been written in recent years about self-defense. A lot of the articles, particularly since the Zimmerman case in Florida, focus on so-called “stand your ground” laws. These are laws that provide, generally, that if you reasonably believe that your life is in danger, you are legally permitted to use deadly force against the […]