Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies working in Fountain Hills had a marked increase in calls for service during the second quarter of the current fiscal year (October through December, 2013).

Capt. Joe Rodriquez, commander for the MCSO District 7 substation in Fountain Hills, reports deputies responded to 1,358 calls during the quarter. That is up from 1,215 between July and September.

There was also a significant jump in activity initiated by deputies (traffic stops, etc.) Deputies made the initial contact 971 times during the second quarter, which is a significant increase over every quarter going back to July of 2012.

Traffic accidents show a significant jump during the last three months of the 2013 calendar year. There were 74 accidents, both injury and non-injury, during the quarter. That is an increase of nearly 25 percent over the previous quarter.

That is also 25 percent higher than the average of all quarters last fiscal year.

The 27 burglaries reported during the quarter was the highest number since the third quarter of the 2012-13 fiscal year.

The top five calls for service received by MCSO during the quarter remains consistent with alarm response (burglar, panic and robbery) being the number one call followed by welfare checks.

A suspicious person or vehicle was the number three call and patrol watch was fourth.

The fifth greatest number of calls for deputies during the quarter was civil matter standby.

The Fountain Hills crime rate based on the FBI’s categories of major crimes remains quite low. Only burglaries and thefts in Fountain Hills show noticeable numbers. Violent crimes such as assault, sex crimes, homicide and robberies rarely occur.

Members of the Fountain Hills Posse volunteered for a total of 1,087 man-hours during the quarter and traveled some 5,588 miles mostly on patrols within the community.

Construction zones

Rodriquez is urging motorists in Fountain Hills to drive with extra caution. He notes that there is an increasing amount of construction activity within the town and there is expected to be substantially more over the next year to 18 months.

Sheriff’s deputies are often used to help direct traffic in construction areas, and Rodriquez is asking people to please obey the instructions they receive from deputies.