It’s been anything but a quiet, lazy summer for law enforcement in Fountain Hills.

For instance, the body of a woman was found in a pick-up truck in the parking lot of a busy shopping center, a deputy-involved shooting killed a local resident, a DEA drug raid took place in a quiet residential neighborhood near an elementary school, a man was severely beaten at a local hotel and there was a report of an attempt to abduct two young children in another quiet neighborhood.

All this the past two months prompted the Town Council last week to ask what is going on and if members are being kept up to date as quickly as they should.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was at the Sept. 4 Town Council meeting and told council members that crime is actually down.

Based on the MCSO report for the fourth quarter ended June 30, that is correct. Nearly all of the incidents listed above happened since July 1.

Two things particularly bothered council members -- delayed notice of the promotion and replacement of District Commander Capt. Joe Rodriquez and finding out about the alleged abduction attempt on Facebook.

“There have been a number of incidents in town requiring law enforcement that council members learned about through Facebook or the news media,” Councilman Tait Elkie said.

“I would like to make sure we are kept informed by MCSO rather than the Internet or the news media.”

Rodriquez, now a deputy chief, was also present at the meeting and accepted some blame regarding his transfer and replacement.

“The transition happened rather quickly, decisions were made over the past six weeks,” Rodriquez said.

“I just returned from vacation and learned (of the change) myself within 48 hours of needing to implement.

“I got caught up in my own concerns and did drop the ball.”

Rodriquez explained that while he was captain he regularly made incident reports to the town manager as quickly as he felt it was appropriate.

Town Manager Ken Buchanan noted that he heard from Rodriquez at 3 a.m. when the deputy-involved shooting occurred.

“I know that sometimes things don’t get on our radar as a priority, but they are to citizens or neighborhoods impacted,” Rodriquez said. “That is my goal to work to improve that. I have been told by Chief (Jerry) Sheridan to improve in that area.”

As deputy chief, Rodriquez oversees patrol operations and would still have authority to address such concerns.

“Social media is a concern,” Rodriquez said. “It is something that we can’t control, sometimes (news) gets out there even before we have a chance to investigate and verify facts.”

Councilwoman Ginny Dickey inquired about MCSO's thoughts toward a contract provision calling for community-based policing and its implementation here.

“In the past we have talked about community- based policing,” Dickey said.

“There are incidents with a major response that may not turn out to be a significant incident, but we still hear from the neighbors wanting to know what is going on.

“This is what it means to eliminate ‘us vs. them’ situations and I’d like to know your commitment to community policing is still there.”

“It is very difficult in the heat of a situation to keep everyone informed what is going on,” Arpaio said. “I will use every piece of equipment and manpower at my disposal to protect my deputies.

“As for community policing, I do it every day. I’m out there speaking to people. I believe in transparency and open dialogue.

“I don’t run a secret CIA operation, I’ll tell people what we are doing.”

There was also concern that the transfer of Rodriquez and the hiring of Capt. Dave Letourneau as his replacement was not done as prescribed in the contract between the town and MCSO.

Town Attorney Andrew McGuire explained that a provision of the contract calls for MCSO to notify the town and seek authorization to replace a current commander.

He said that provision was intended to cover only the first two years of a commander’s tenure to prevent a rapid succession of authority in town.

However, McGuire said the agreement does not stipulate the time frame and that will be corrected for council review at next contract renewal.

The contract also calls for MCSO to provide three names of potential officers to command the district with the opportunity for the town manager to review resumes and interview candidates before making a recommendation.

In this instance the process was done belatedly with Buchanan ultimately recommending Letourneau.

“All three candidates were excellent,” Buchanan told the council.

Upon a motion from Dickey, the council did unanimously ratify the re-assignment of Rodriquez as a MCSO deputy chief from his previous duty as district commander.