Press Release

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

Date:

08/05/2010

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 August 5, 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 19th through Sunday, July 25th, Yuma Police Department responded to an average of 164 calls per day. During this period YPD:

Responded to 1,149 calls for service
Documented 244 police reports
Responded to 35 non-injury accidents
Responded to 5 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 36,868 calls for service
Documented 7,591 police reports
Responded to 1,369 non-injury accidents
Responded to 479 injury accidents
Responded to 2,654 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 25th through July 31st, Yuma Fire Department responded to 164 Emergency Calls for Service, which included:

5 Commercial Assignments this week, including : an heated warming unit at a restaurant, and various alarms
1 Hazardous Materials Response for Sewage seeping into the grass at an apartment complex.
12 Motor Vehicle Crashes - 1 involving a building, 1 involving a scooter, 1 involving a pole, and 1 involving a bicycle.
123 Other Medical Emergencies (serious to minor) - : 3 for difficulty breathing, 5 for chest pain, 11 fall victims, 7 unconscious people, 4 seizure cases, 14 subjects with mental problems, 3 diabetic emergencies, 28 trauma injuries, a child locked inside of a vehicle, and miscellaneous other illnesses and injuries.
23 Special Duty, Public Assistance, and Residential Assignments that included: dog rescued from a canal, a shed fire near a residence, the smell of smoke inside a garage, a burning electrical smell at a home, a fire in a garage that spread to the rest of the home, an unlit gas stove left on overnight in a residence, an illegal burn in the back yard at a residence, a child with their knee stuck in playground equipment, a small straw bale fire, power lines down in an alleyway, and various alarms.

From January 1, 2010 through July 31, 2010, the Yuma Fire Department has responded to 6,497 emergency calls for service including:

180 Commercial Assignments: 7 fires in businesses, 7 fires in apartments, and various alarms.
19 Hazardous Material Responses.
14 Mutual Aid Assignments.
518 Motor Vehicle Crashes.
5,106 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.
660 Special Duty, Public Assistance, and Residential Assignments: 40 fires in private residences, 32 dumpster fires, 14 grass or brush fires, 15 fires outside of a structure, 34 vehicle fires, and various alarms.

This month is Drowning Impact Awareness Month. Arizona is consistently one of the states with the highest numbers of drowning cases. You might expect that of California or Florida with many miles of beaches, but this just shows that it doesn't take an ocean of water; it often just takes a few inches. Children 4 years of age and younger represent the largest number of victims and it is a reminder for parents, or anyone responsible for children, to never leave them unsupervised around water.

Always select a "Water Watcher" who will watch for signs of trouble and will designate someone else to be a watcher if they leave the area. It only takes a few seconds for a tragedy to occur. Have fun, but do it safely! Relentless, responsible adult supervision is essential around ALL bodies of water. According to the Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona, three ways to prevent drownings are to block, watch, and learn.

Block:

The State of Arizona mandates the use of proper pool barriers (i.e.., fences, motorized pool covers or self-closing, self-latching doors). Fence should be made of non-climbable material, such as iron, heavy-duty plastic or non-climbable mesh, with a minimum height of 54" and self-closing, self latching gate. A four-sided pool fence provides superior protection.
It is important to be knowledgeable of the current building ordinance for pool barriers in your city.

Watch:

Most drowning victims are missing for less than five minutes before their absence is noted.
Drownings occur suddenly and without warning. There is usually no splash and no cry.
Constant supervision should be practiced near all bodies of water. Drownings frequently occur in buckets, bathtubs, toilets, canals, ponds/lakes, etc.
In most drowning incidents the caregiver admits they were away for "just a few seconds."

Learn:

Once an incident occurs, survival depends on rescuing the person quickly and initiating proper CPR. Seconds count in preventing brain damage and death.
Anyone responsible for a child's care should know CPR and re-certify every year.
Swimming lessons can be helpful and considered a layer of protection. Children older than three years of age should receive swimming lessons. However, do not consider children to be "drown proof" just because they have been enrolled in swimming lessons.

Visit http://www.preventdrownings.org/ for more. (This link will take you to an external website that is not part of the City of Yuma official website.)

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. Visit 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 28th through August 3rd in the City of Yuma Parks and Recreation Department:

The Graffiti Busters Crew responded to and cleaned up 55 incidents of graffiti
15 rounds of golf were played at Arroyo Dunes Golf course
606 rounds of 18-hole golf were played at Desert Hills Golf Course
The Putter Inn served 559 meals
41 events were held at the Yuma Civic Center with 1,851 people attending those events
90 organized games were played at City of Yuma athletic facilities
The Yuma Art Center hosted 3 events with a total attendance of 316
109 ramadas, parks and fields were rented for special events
40 programs were offered through the City's recreation program, with 5,803 members of the Yuma community participating in those programs
4 programs were offered at the Yuma Art Center, with 54 attendees

From July 1, 2019 to July 27, 2010:

212 incidents of graffiti have been addressed and cleaned up
74 rounds of golf have been played at Desert Hills Golf Course
2,884 rounds of golf have been played at Desert Hills Golf Course
The Putter Inn has served 2,135 meals
241 events have been held at the Yuma Civic Center with an attendance of 11,843
A total of 528 games have been played at City of Yuma athletic facilities
The Yuma Art Center hosted 15 events with a total attendance of 1,663
817 ramadas, parks and fields were rented by Yuma area residents
430 programs have been offered with 34,226 people attending those programs
19 programs were offered at the Yuma Art Center, with 228 attendees

There were 55 cases of graffiti abated during the period of July 28th through August 3rd, with a total of 212 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.