Phoenix, Arizona - Crime

Crime

By the 1970s there was rising crime and a decline in business within the downtown core. Arizona Republic writer Don Bolles was murdered by a car bomb at the Clarendon Hotel in 1976. It was believed that his investigative reporting on organized crime in Phoenix made him a target. Bolles' last words referred to Phoenix land and cattle magnate Kemper Marley, who was widely regarded to have ordered Bolles' murder, as well as John Harvey Adamson, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 1977 in return for testimony against contractors Max Dunlap and James Robison.

Dunlap was convicted of first degree murder in the case in 1990 and remained in prison, until his death on July 21, 2009, while Robison was acquitted, but pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting violence against Adamson. Street gangs and the drug trade had turned into public safety issues by the 1980s. Van Buren Street, East of downtown (near 24th St), became associated with prostitution. The city's crime rates in many categories have improved since that time, but still exceed state and national averages.

The city has recently seen a tremendous drop in crime in recent years with 2008 and 2009 recording large declines in car thefts and murders. Phoenix expects to report to the FBI nearly 100 murders fewer in 2009 compared to two years prior when 222 murders occurred. Through November 2009, 106 murders were recorded in Phoenix.

Car theft has been a problem in Phoenix. The city consistently ranks high for both total thefts and rate per 100,000. In 2001, Phoenix was number one for theft rate with 35,161 total thefts, giving a rate of 1,081.25 per 100,000. However, in 2003, Phoenix dropped to second place with 1,253.71 per 100,000 (behind Modesto, California), although total car thefts rose to 40,769.

In 2008 Phoenix also experienced a huge decline in auto thefts dropping the city to the number 19 spot for such crimes; credit for the decline has been given to the Phoenix Police Department's efforts to patrol areas where reporting of thefts are prevalent and in use of bait cars to deter would-be thieves.

Phoenix continues to experience large drops in all crimes in 2009 (A 24% drop in all violent crimes in Phoenix for 2008, and a further 18% drop in crime through November 2009 have been experienced in the city).

In the late 2000s, Phoenix earned the title "Kidnapping capital of the USA". The majority of the kidnapped are believed to be victims of human smuggling, or related to illegal drug trade, while the kidnappers are believed to be part of Mexican Drug War cartels, particularly the Sinaloa Cartel. John McCain has also called Phoenix the "Number-Two Kidnapping Capital of the World", even though fact-checkers universally regarded the statement as false.