The drug-related deaths of two young adults in Fountain Hills prompted the Town Council to ask the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for an assessment of the illicit drug situation in the community.

MCSO Capt. Dave Letourneau, commander for the Sheriff’s District 7 based in Fountain Hills, made a report to the council at its regular session on Sept. 15.

Letourneau said that after a review of drug-related calls in Fountain Hills over the past five years there has been no increase in activity recently. In fact, based on the MCSO reports there has been a significant reduction in drug-related activity over the past couple of years.

MCSO calls for service reviewed from 2011 through 2015 as well as the first three quarters of 2016.

The high for calls was 2013 when there were 71 calls that were related to drug charges. That includes calls that might have initially been reported as a different type of incident and were changed when drugs were found to be involved.

By the same measure some calls were reported as drug-related, but deputies found no evidence of drugs involved.

The least number of calls involving drugs came in 2015 when there were 34. Indications are, with nearly nine months of 2016 in the books, drug-related calls may be even lower still this year (21 calls through the time of the report to council).

During 2012 there were 68 calls with a drug connection.

Letourneau said he looked further to see if there were any related circumstances to show 2012 and 2013 with higher numbers. Those years were before he came to Fountain Hills.

He said he discovered that there was an aggressive enforcement policy related to traffic stops in place at the time that could reflect the higher numbers.

Letourneau said he also discovered that winter and fall were the biggest months for drug-related calls, and he also said he pinned down a time specific to 12 to 2 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He said he has adjusted scheduling to put more deputies on the street during these times.

The typical person facing drug charges in Fountain Hills is a white male an average age of 25.

Looking at MCSO across the board Fountain Hills compares favorably to similar communities such as Queen Creek, Cave Creek and Carefree.

“We haven’t lost control,” Letourneau said. “I often hear things second hand about incidents, but if it is not reported we can’t respond.

“Don’t be afraid to dial 911, if it is not an emergency you will be connected to the right person to take the information.”

Letourneau also said Fountain Hills is the only community in Arizona to use Text-A-Tip, an anonymous program people can use to report any crime. It is frequently used to report high school incidents as well as alcohol involved parties. It is also used for drug tips.

Letourneau said the Sheriff’s Office also partners with the town and the Fountain Hills Coalition to provide Midnight Madness programs and activities for young teens.

He did repeat and emphasize that the two recent drug-related deaths were young adults and not teens.