Press Release

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

Date:

08/19/2010

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 19, 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, August 2nd through Sunday, August 8th, Yuma Police Department responded to an average of 164 calls per day. During this period YPD:

Responded to 1,131 calls for service
Documented 236 police reports
Responded to 20 non-injury accidents
Responded to 15 injury accidents

Significant Incidents & Community Events

On August 7th , 78-Crime Splash Out Crime Night was held at the Valley Aquatic Center. The event had over 1,000 people in attendance and was highlighted by having Yuma Police Chief Geier, San Luis Police Chief Flores, and KYMA's Megan Munro in the dunk tank.
Drive Safe Location this week was undisclosed. As of August 9th, the Yuma Police Department has issued 1,718 citations in Project Drive Save areas.

From January 1st to July August 8th, the Yuma Police Department has:

Responded to 39,173 calls for service
Documented 8,086 police reports
Responded to 1,435 non-injury accidents
Responded to 502 injury accidents
Responded to 2,825 alarm calls resulting in 15 police reports

From January 1st through June 30, 2010, the Yuma Police Department:

Received 105,964 Incoming phone calls into the Public Safety Communications Center
Received 22,912 9-1-1 calls
Issued 4,248 Traffic Citations
Made 2,004 Adult Arrests and 640 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

Driving on roadways under construction can be confusing and time consuming due to restricted driving lanes, speed limits, and turning restrictions.

When driving in a construction zone, be sure to observe all posted traffic control devices.
Plan ahead if a construction zone is in your daily driving route.
Leave earlier and prepare for detours from your normal driving route, or take a completely different route to avoid the construction zone.
Driving restrictions in construction zones are in place for the safety of workers, pedestrians and drivers.
Remember to follow all lane, speed and turning restrictions, as they are enforceable traffic violations, and always...

Drive Safe!

Yuma Fire Department

For the week of August 8th through August 14th, Yuma Fire Department responded to 229 Emergency Calls for Service, which included:

6 Commercial Assignments this week, including : a malicious fire alarm activation when no fire existed, an apartment fire caused by a stove being left on with combustibles on top, and various alarms.
1 Mutual Aid Response - assisting the Winterhaven Fire Department with a brush fire endangering a residence.
20 Motor Vehicle Crashes - 1 involving a canal, 2 rollover crashes, and 2 involving a motorcycle.
181 Other Medical Emergencies (serious to minor) - 6 for difficulty breathing, 10 for chest pain, 18 fall victims, 4 unconscious people, 8 seizure cases, 15 people with psychiatric problems, 9 diabetic emergencies, 34 trauma injuries, 3 possible strokes, 1 allergic reaction, a baby locked inside of a vehicle, and miscellaneous other illnesses and injuries.
21 Special Duty, Public Assistance, and Residential Assignments that included: gas leak at a residence, a fire in a back yard that turned out to be in the county, a grass fire next to a home, an illegal fire in the back yard of a home that was not extinguished completely, an air conditioning unit that was smoking and set off a smoke alarm at a business, 2 vehicle fires, a pop up canopy that blew into telephone lines, a sign on fire in front of a restaurant, and various alarms.

From January 1, 2010 through August 14, 2010, the Yuma Fire Department has responded to 6,665 emergency calls for service including:

191 Commercial Assignments: 7 fires in businesses, 8 fires in apartments, and various alarms.
19 Hazardous Material Responses.
15 Mutual Aid Assignments.
551 Motor Vehicle Crashes.
5,420 Medical Emergencies (serious to minor): 242 for difficulty breathing, 340 for chest pain, 718 fall victims, 216 unconscious people, 241 people with an altered level of consciousness, 154 seizure cases, 129 diabetic emergencies, 60 possible stroke cases, 12 poisonings, 425 people with psychiatric problems, 9 allergic reactions, 1225 with a trauma injury, 31 calls for a child locked inside of a vehicle, and miscellaneous other illnesses and injuries.
698 Special Duty, Public Assistance, and Residential Assignments: 40 fires in private residences, 34 dumpster fires, 16 grass or brush fires, 17 fires outside of a structure, 37 vehicle fires, and various alarms.

So far this year, the Yuma Fire Department has responded to 21 calls for utility wires down. One of last week's emergency responses was for a pop up tent that blew into some wires in a back yard. It was unknown at the time what type of wires they were. They turned out to be low voltage lines, but if a low voltage line comes in contact with an energized source, it can become a conductor of the high voltage. According to esfi.org, always assume fallen power lines are energized. Stay at least ten feet away and any nearby objects it may be touching (such as a fence or tree limb). Never attempt to move a downed power line, leave it to the professionals. Do not drive over downed power lines. Never touch a person or object that is in direct or indirect contact with a downed power line, instead call 911 immediately. Even if a line is not charged at that moment, it could become live without warning. A common time for lines to be down would be during or after a storm, or during high winds.

If power is out, intersections may be dark and the traffic control lights may not be working. If that is the case, approach the intersection with caution and treat it as if it was controlled by four way stop signs. It is not just a good safety procedure, it is the law!

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 August 11th through August 17th in the City of Yuma Parks and Recreation Department:

The Graffiti Busters Crew responded to and cleaned up 54 incidents of graffiti
7 rounds of golf were played at Arroyo Dunes Golf course
533 rounds of 18-hole golf were played at Desert Hills Golf Course
The Putter Inn served 611 meals
No events were held at the Yuma Civic Center because of our Summer hiatus
57 organized games were played at City of Yuma athletic facilities
No events were held at the Yuma Art Center because of our Summer hiatus
111 ramadas, parks and fields were rented for special events
10 programs were offered through the City's recreation program, with 3,362 members of the Yuma community participating in those programs
No programs were offered at the Yuma Art Center because of our Summer hiatus

From July 1, 2019 to August 17, 2010:

321 incidents of graffiti have been addressed and cleaned up
90 rounds of golf have been played at Desert Hills Golf Course
3,995 rounds of golf have been played at Desert Hills Golf Course
The Putter Inn has served 3,293 meals
254 events have been held at the Yuma Civic Center with an attendance of 12,725
A total of 772 games have been played at City of Yuma athletic facilities
The Yuma Art Center has hosted 17 events with a total attendance of 2,063
1,055 ramadas, parks and fields were rented by Yuma area residents
479 Recreation Programs have been offered with 38,626 people attending those programs
21 programs were offered at the Yuma Art Center, with 282 attendees

There were 54 cases of graffiti abated during the period of August 11th through August 17th, with a total of 321 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.