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Summer is almost here! As we closed out the month of May, it was a time for reflection, the celebration of lives, accomplishments and a reminder to appreciate the people around us who have had a positive impact on our lives and our goals for the future as a community. Your May PCAO newsletter has arrived!
Laura joined Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and Pima County Board of Supervisors Chair Adelita Grijalva in authoring an op-ed piece on the collective efforts by our offices to address the challenge of people living unsheltered and the associated substance use disorders and criminal activity that affect our businesses and neighborhoods.
With the lingering effects of the global pandemic continuing to make a serious problem worse, this collaboration of city and county leaders is working toward solutions on multiple fronts.
On May 17th, ten local men and women graduated from PCAO’s Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison(DTAP) program, one of the Specialty Courts that plays a pivotal role in criminal justice reform.
These men and women all were on a path towards incarceration when they opted for the DTAP program, which provides people with severe substance use disorders and non-violent felony convictions the opportunity to participate in intensive treatment under probation supervision.
Each of them donned caps and gowns during a ceremony at the Berger Performing Arts Center in Tucson and, in front of family, friends and supporters including probation officers, law enforcement and judges, some made heartfelt testimonials to the power the program had to help restore their lives.
Pima County and the City of Tucson joined forces to issue a proclamation announcing the formation of a new task force designed to solve and prosecute crimes against Indigenous women in Pima County. The joint task force will work with both local and tribal governments and the families of Indigenous women who are either missing or murdered.
The Pima County Attorney’s Office plays a significant role in this partnership, having successfully created Intergovernmental agreements with the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and Tohono O’odham Nation. The agreements allow our Criminal Division to specially deputize Pascua Yaqui and Tohono O’odham prosecutors to better serve tribal victims.
These tools along with a national awareness campaign that began in May 2017 to bring attention to the plight of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women promises to address this terrible situation with our fellow community members.
On May 19th, our office joined our partners at the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for the 37 Annual Law Enforcement Memorial.
The memorial honored the lives, dedication, and sacrifices of 14 sheriff’s deputies who lost their lives in the line of duty between 1883 and 2005. Local leaders, including Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher, spoke to those who attended in support of these fallen officers and their families.
Veteran police officer and PCAO Chief of Detectives Fabian Pacheco took his expertise in law enforcement and criminal investigations to an 8th-grade forensic science class at Valencia Middle School on May 19th.
Students there learned about the Locard Exchange Principle (the propensity for criminals to leave something at a crime scene or take something from it), securing a crime scene, the use of physical and testimonial evidence, the difference between interviews and interrogations and a whole lot more.
The students were asked related questions and the reward for correct answers was selecting swag from Fabian’s collection of challenge coins, pins, and patches.
Thank you to Valencia Middle School staff for inviting us to visit!
Shakera Oliver, Maria Oliver, 8th grade student and Chief Pacheco
On May 24th, we had the pleasure of presenting a check to Emilia Honkasaari with The Haven, a treatment center for women with drug and alcohol use disorders, its the organization’s first Anti-Racketeering Revolving Fund award. With Courthouse Dog Emeritus Blake in attendance, we were pleased to provide the funds that will help efforts to update and repair The Haven’s Weigold Recovery House, which serves Indigenous women an outpatient program with a focus on providing culturally supportive treatment for recovery.
Utterback Block Party
Laura and members of our outreach team(Fred Phelps, CT. Revere and Emmanuelle Fahey) set up at a resource fair that was part of the Utterback Middle School Block Party at the southside school. Laura provided a bucket of Eegee’s that was a huge hit with students and their parents while the rest of the team gave out books for young readers, free gun locks, bicycle reflectors and information about programs ranging from fraud prevention to restorative justice.
We just wanted to share that our efforts to get gun locks out to the public continue to grow along with the number of gun locks being handed out by our team. Check out our latest PSA on the issue.
PCAO has given out thousands of free gun locks to the public as part of our efforts to reduce gun violence.
We gave a special thank you to Elizabeth Coleman as she moves on to her new role at the Crisis Response Center (CRC) as a behavioral health technician. She’s moving on from her role at Community Bridges, Inc. as a Consolidated Misdemeanor Problem Solving Court (CMPS) Case Manager where she guided and assisted court participants through treatment and achieving the goals they set to improve the quality of their lives through our PCAO diversion program. Good luck with your new gig! You can see a special Instagram post here.
AND finally, our retired courthouse dog Blake is now making regular rounds at the office to hang out with our staff and provide respite. We LOVE Blake! See you next month!
The PCAO Community Newsletter is published and distributed monthly.
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