Press Release

City of Yuma Parks & Recreation, Fire, Police Calls for Service & Incidents

Date:

07/29/2010

Summary:

Employees of the City of Yuma Police Department, Fire Department and Parks & Recreation Department responded to the following calls for service and reports of vandalism and graffiti this week.

Contact:

Greg HylandDirector of Communications & Public Affairs

Information for this Reporting Period and Year to Date as of July 29, 2010

Yuma, Arizona - Employees of the City of Yuma Police Department, Fire Department and Parks & Recreation Department responded to the following calls for service and reports of vandalism and graffiti this week.

Yuma Police Department

For the period of Monday, July 12th through Sunday, July 18th, Yuma Police Department responded to an average of 161 calls per day. During this period YPD:

Responded to 1,054 calls for service
Documented 211 police reports
Responded to 24 non-injury accidents
Responded to 10 injury accidents

Significant Incidents & Community Events

Drive Safe Location was Avenue A and our targeted intersection was the 24th Street and Avenue A. As of July 12th, the Yuma Police Department has issued 1,570 citations in Project Drive Save areas.

From January 1st to July 18th, the Yuma Police Department has:

Responded to 35,719 calls for service
Documented 7,347 police reports
Responded to 1,332 non-injury accidents
Responded to 470 injury accidents
Responded to 2,559 alarm calls resulting in 14 police reports

From January 1st through May 31, 2010, the Yuma Police Department:

Received 91,088 Incoming phone calls into the Public Safety Communications Center
Received 19,434 9-1-1 calls
Issued 3,642 Traffic Citations
Made 1,693 Adult Arrests and 569 Juvenile Arrests

In Calendar year 2009, the Yuma Police Department:

Received 208,555 calls into the Public Safety Communications Center
Received 52,035 9-1-1 calls
Issued 8,288 Traffic Citations
Made 1,317 Juvenile Arrests and 4,164 Adult Arrests
Responded to 84,332 calls for service
Documented 13,740 police reports
Responded to 2,384 non-injury accidents
Responded to 933 injury accidents
Responded to 5,085 alarm calls resulting in 25 police reports

Red light violations cause over 5,000 traffic accidents a year in Arizona[1]. Arizona traffic law requires motorists approaching an intersection to reduce their speed regardless of the color of the traffic signal. Doing so prepares motorist to stop for signal changes, as well as other hazards. A yellow traffic signal is a warning that the red signal is about to be activated and motorist should be braking rather than accelerating. Motorists facing a steady red traffic signal are required to stop prior to entering the intersection. Motorist should do their part by braking on yellow, stopping on red, and always Drive Safe!

[1] Source: Arizona Department of Transportation

Yuma Fire Department

For the week of July 18th through July 24th, Yuma Fire Department responded to 200 Emergency Calls for Service, which included:

8 Commercial Assignments this week, including a : A water leak in an attic at a business, a burned motor on an air conditioning unit (creating smoke) in an apartment, a small fire outside of a condominium, a refrigerator fire in a mobile home, and various alarms
1 Hazardous Materials Response for a gasoline spill at a local service station.
1 Mutual Aid Response to backfill a Somerton Fire Station while they responded to a structure fire.
10 Motor Vehicle Crashes - 1 involving a building and 1 involving a bicycle.
155 Other Medical Emergencies (serious to minor) - 7 for difficulty breathing, 7 for chest pain, 24 fall victims, 6 unconscious people, 3 seizure cases, 11 subjects with mental problems, 6 diabetic emergencies, 40 trauma injuries, a child locked inside of a vehicle, and miscellaneous other illnesses and injuries.
25 Special Duty, Public Assistance, and Residential Assignments that included: dog locked inside of a vehicle, an electrical smell inside of a house, 3 separate calls for wires arcing or sparking, a vehicle fire, a dumpster fire, the smell of natural gas in a neighborhood, a propane leak behind a building, a fire in a back yard, and various alarms.

From January 1, 2010 through July 24, 2010, the Yuma Fire Department has responded to 6,333 emergency calls for service including:

175 Commercial Assignments: 6 fires in businesses, 7 fires in apartments, and various alarms.
18 Hazardous Material Responses.
14 Mutual Aid Assignments.
506 Motor Vehicle Crashes.
4,983 Medical Emergencies (serious to minor): 223 for difficulty breathing, 317 for chest pain, 672 fall victims, 199 unconscious people, 225 people with an altered level of consciousness, 140 seizure cases, 113 diabetic emergencies, 55 possible stroke cases, 12 poisonings, 383 subjects with mental problems, 8 allergic reactions,
1,138 with a trauma injury, 29 calls for a child locked inside of a vehicle, and miscellaneous other illnesses and injuries.
637 Special Duty, Public Assistance, and Residential Assignments: 37 fires in private residences, 32 dumpster fires, 13 grass or brush fires, 14 fires outside of a structure, 33 vehicle fires, and various alarms.

Every day, drivers of emergency vehicles are confronted with the challenge of traveling to an emergency scene as safely and quickly as possible. The Yuma Fire Department strives to respond to every emergency within five minutes. This can be achieved easier and safer with the cooperation of the public by yielding to emergency vehicles driving "Emergency Traffic" (with lights and sirens). Time lost in traffic can mean the difference between life and death for someone waiting for help.

When emergency vehicles responding to a call are approaching, pull to the right towards the nearest edge of the roadway and come to a complete stop until they have passed. Often times there are more than one emergency vehicle responding to a call...more may follow the first one you see! Be aware of your location when pulling to the side of the road. Do not stop on a blind curve or the crest of a hill.

The public should also exercise caution when firefighters are seen working on the scene of an emergency. Often times at fires, there will be large hose lines lying in the roadway that are not always blocked by law enforcement. Never drive over these hoses, as it could not only damage them, but could also cut off water supply to firefighters or cause dangerous water surges. Be aware of fire department personnel and equipment at all times.

The area around emergency scenes can become congested very quickly. Try to avoid these congested areas and traveling delays when possible.

Did you know you can follow the Yuma Fire Department on Twitter as we are often able to inform the public on major incident locations. Check us out at www.twitter.com/YumaFireDept (This link will take you to an external website that is not part of the City of Yuma official website.)

Parks and Recreation Department

For the period of July 21st through July 27th in the City of Yuma Parks and Recreation Department:

The Graffiti Busters Crew responded to and cleaned up 49 incidents of graffiti
15 rounds of golf were played at Arroyo Dunes Golf course
560 rounds of 18-hole golf were played at Desert Hills Golf Course
The Putter Inn served 453 meals
54 events were held at the Yuma Civic Center with 2,544 people attending those events
138 organized games were played at City of Yuma athletic facilities
The Yuma Art Center hosted 4 events with a total attendance of 363
179 ramadas, parks and fields were rented for special events
62 programs were offered through the City's recreation program, with 6,768 members of the Yuma community participating in those programs
4 programs were offered at the Yuma Art Center, with 43 attendees

From July 1, 2019 to July 27, 2010:

157 incidents of graffiti have been addressed and cleaned up
59 rounds of golf have been played at Desert Hills Golf Course
2,278 rounds of golf have been played at Desert Hills Golf Course
The Putter Inn has served 1,576 meals
200 events have been held at the Yuma Civic Center with an attendance of 9,992
A total of 438 games have been played at City of Yuma athletic facilities
The Yuma Art Center hosted 12 events with a total attendance of 1,347
708 ramadas, parks and fields were rented by Yuma area residents
390 programs have been offered with 28,423 people attending those programs
15 programs were offered at the Yuma Art Center, with 174 attendees

There were 49 cases of graffiti abated during the period of July 6 through July 13th, with a total of 157 removed from July 1st to date.

Vandalism and graffiti clean-up costs the Yuma taxpayers over $200,000 each year. Please help us reduce vandalism by reporting incidences of crime to 78-Crime and graffiti to the hot line of 329-2828.

If you witness a crime in progress, call 9-1-1.

For More Information

For further information, please contact Greg Hyland, CPM, the City of Yuma's Director of Communications & Public Affairs at (928) 373-5023 or by e-mail or Dave Nash, City of Yuma Public Affairs Coordinator at (928) 373-5015 or by e-mail.

Follow the City of Yuma on Twitter

You can now follow the City of Yuma and receive the latest information from your Twitter account. The City's Twitter address is www.twitter.com/CityOfYuma. (This link will take you to an external website that is not part of the City of Yuma official website.)

Media Contacts

Members of the media may contact Director of Communications and Public Affairs Greg Hyland, CPM at (928) 373-5023 or (928) 580-4751, or Public Affairs Coordinator Dave Nash at (928) 373-5015, or (928) 941-0199.