We’re fortunate that no one was killed,” said Tempe Police Lt. Mike Horn, describing the mass shooting of 15 people at a Tempe nightclub by three suspected members of two rival street gangs, the Crips and Bloods.
The shootings that made national headlines occurred in a strip mall parking lot in front of The Clubhouse nightclub. The victims were part of an estimated crowd of 300 concert goers waiting see rapper Nipsey Hussle, a member of the Rollin’ 60’s Crips, one of Los Angeles’ largest gangs. Hussle’s gang ties are well known.
The night before the Tempe shooting, shots were reportedly fired at the venue for Hussle’s Tucson concert. Last March, shots were reportedly fired in another incident involving Hussle in Los Angeles.
It was no secret Hussle was coming to Tempe.
Was the shooting of 15 people preventable?
Tempe police did not respond to questions concerning whether they knew Hussle was coming to town, whether they conducted a threat assessment. Police also didn’t say whether they requested assistance from the East Valley Gang and Criminal Information Fusion Center to gather information on Hussle or deployed additional resources to deal with any problems that could have been anticipated at a concert where a Crip was performing and rival gangsters might show up.
Tempe didn’t request assistance from the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s nationally recognized anti-gang unit – known as the Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission, or GIITEM – before or after the shootings, and police have been pointing fingers at the nightclub’s owner since. Police described past problems at the nightclub, including an unsolved gangland murder that reportedly might be linked to the Crips and Bloods, and issues with business and liquor permits. They are now investigating the business and the shootout. If the nightclub was such a problem, why didn’t police and city officials close the nightclub long ago?
Police are now expressing concern that the shooters might now kill someone. One suspect has been arrested, but two are still at large. Tempe police are fortunate the lone officer at the shooting location, who was reportedly there only to investigate a crime at the 7-11 store next door, wasn’t killed by the shooters fleeing the crime.
The police response to gang crime activity must be proactive and not reactive to be successful and protect the community.
Multiple police officials have told me Phoenix area gangs have made Tempe a destination to commit crime in order to escape the aggressive anti-gang efforts by other police agencies, including GIITEM.
The 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment by the Federal Bureau of Investigation has linked serious crime to the presence of gang members.
Tempe’s crime analysis unit reported serious crime in the city went up 4.8 percent from 2010 to 2011. Tempe’s crime rate is now almost 10 points higher than Phoenix’s, nearly 20 points higher than Mesa’s, 22 points higher than Chandler’s and almost double Scottsdale’s. Tempe continues to have the highest crime rate in the East Valley and second highest crime rate in the Metro Phoenix area. An armed guard stands watch in front of the bank in my Tempe neighborhood.
The FBI report also links the Crips to Mexican drug cartels.
Tempe’s become a destination for the Sinaloa Drug Cartel too. Since 2009 Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel has called Tempe one of its homes. Hundreds of drug dealers with ties to the Sinaloa have reportedly been arrested in Tempe by police and federal agents.
While Tempe continually blames Arizona State University and others for its crime problem, the time has come for City Manager Charlie Meyer, the mayor and the city council to accept responsibility for the crime and ask what other cities are doing right and Tempe’s doing wrong.
As Tempe police conduct multiple investigations, city hall needs to investigate the lack of prevention, preparedness and response by Police Chief Tom Ryff and his department the night 15 concert goers were gunned down. There’s a reason criminals, drug dealers and gangsters are attracted to Tempe.
If Tempe wants to be a regional player in Arizona’s future, it needs to get a handle on its own crime problem.
Retired Mesa master police officer Bill Richardson lives in the East Valley and can be reached at bill.richardson@cox.net.
Rich posted at 10:42 am on Fri, Mar 9, 2012.
Tempe has police to make sure you mow your lawn and fix your flat tire. The structure of the city code is voluminous that the only possible result is a high crime rate, anarchy. The city council is an elitist coterie of aristocrats used, along with other city agencies to employ the children of politicos and their friends. The city code 'criminalizes", almost all the residents with silly 'laws' that violate nearly every personal freedom under the sun, and almost no one but people in the wards of St. Joseph's contain people who don't 'break the law' every day. The reason for the high crime rate is simply, too many 'laws', codes, whatever, and no concentration on felony crime, as Bill points out above. If a law code isn't simple and generally understood, the system tends toward chaos, not order. Led by people who 'inherited' the position, anarchy is usually the result. Highest crime, and highest taxes are twin sisters. Too much power, too much money, and you can't really expect a good result.
918Bill posted at 10:58 am on Fri, Mar 9, 2012.
Great story Bill! Perhaps when Mark Mitchell gets elected to Mayor, he will hold true on his promise to you that he will "FIRE" Chief Ryff and City Manager Charlie Meyer just like he promised you. Keep it up Bill, your attacks on City of Tempe officials is working!
chatmandu002 posted at 3:48 pm on Fri, Mar 9, 2012.
Bill,
You want to blame everyone but the jerks that did the shooting. It's all the police department's fault is just BS. If the Tempe police did crack down on some people then some lawyer would bring a racist lawsuit against the City of Tempe just like they do with Sheriff Joe. You say that the Tempe police should do this and the Tempe police so do that, and yet according to your own comments the police and FBI have arrested hundreds of drug dealers. There may be some personal or political reason why you are picking on Chief Ryff implying that he and the city council are soft on crime or incompetent. It's easy to sit back and comment in hind-sight, pulling out those statistics that fit your narrative while throwing around blame. Stop blaming everyone else but the bad guys, it makes you look petty, divisive and political.
Rich posted at 6:41 pm on Fri, Mar 9, 2012.
",,,implying that he and the city council are soft on crime or incompetent."
It's not an implication, it's an Empirical fact. It's about as much fact as you get. Living in Tempe, I resent living with it, as apparently does Bill. But it isn't implying anything, it's stating a fact. The highest crime rate IS the highest crime rate, and is cured through hard, competent work, not being related to, or being friends with former Tempe politicos.
Masterrogue666 posted at 6:55 pm on Fri, Mar 9, 2012.
At least he didn't blame MCSO or Sheriff Joe this time......
[beam]
chatmandu002 posted at 7:55 pm on Fri, Mar 9, 2012.
Rich,
So, it is political.
Rich posted at 10:08 pm on Fri, Mar 9, 2012.
No in fact, it isn't, it is instead a recognition that politics has failed and because it has it has put me and family in jeopardy. That isn't politics, it's anger.
KJDaVinci777 posted at 2:01 am on Sat, Mar 10, 2012.
masterrocko666: Bill cannot blame the toughest (coward) aka Sheriff wannabe Arpio, due to the fact that when Mr. Joe heard the shots, he ran to hide either with wife or Sheriff (Fox News DARLING) PauL BABUE. ...Joe will not touch real criminals, specifically Muslim RADICALS or black criminals. Also please tell Joe that US Marshall called and stated that clean pinkies are waiting for him while he is in federal custody. No, Perry, or Pearce cannot help him and the blind voters will not have the power to vote him out of prison...Tempe Intelligence should have prevented this shooting...
davidflucier posted at 8:02 am on Sat, Mar 10, 2012.
The headline question that Mr. Richardson asked is, "Was the shooting of 15 people preventable?"
And if you stop to think of it ALL crime is preventable, so it's really a bad question. The flip side of the question, too, is, "How do you measure and prove that any crime was ever prevented?"
As everyone knows, you can't prove a negative...how many crimes were and have been prevented?
Comparing Tempe (and its crime rate) to other cities in the Valley is like comparing apples and oranges.
How many cities have huge special events which draws tens of thousands of people to its city every weekend: Art fairs, concerts, exhibits, huge athletic events such as ASU football, basketball, and baseball, triathlons, parades, etc? The answer is NONE! On top of that, you have the tens of thousands of people who are associated with ASU: faculty, staff, students, visitors, which create another set of circumstances for public safety...just the shear numbers are staggering and no other city in the Valley has to contend with such elements in their public safety model.
As an aside, the AZ DPS Gang Enforcement Bureau is home to the Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission (GIITEM). GIITEM is a statewide multi-agency task force consisting of five districts that provide gang and illegal immigration enforcement and intelligence services. GIITEM strives to accomplish its mission through a task force concept involving personnel from tribal, federal, state, county and city law enforcement agencies. (This is the same unit the legislature recommends taking $1.4 million from and giving it over to the proposed state militia).
Crime and criminals are fluid, mobile and a long way from "stupid"...that's WHY they move from jurisdiction to jurisdiction...that's why GIITEM was formed. That's why GIITEM is also constantly moving...pushing here and pushing there...and when they do, crime and criminals react.
Who is to blame for the shootings? I'm going to take a wild swing at this one and say, the people who pulled the trigger at its most basic level and quite possibly the venue owners and managers for possibly not "following the rules" to begin with!
Blaming the City of Tempe Police for crime is like blaming the medical community for the spread of disease or the flu season!
davidflucier posted at 8:11 am on Sat, Mar 10, 2012.
An excerpt from this mornings East Valley Trib follows.
"Tempe residents are happy with their quality of life, but they want the city to make them feel safer and crack down on private property owners whose land is shabby.
The city’s annual satisfaction survey found Tempe residents are more pleased with their community than citizens in other places. Eight-six percent gave positive marks to the city’s quality of life and 87 percent liked the city’s image, according to the Kansas-based ETC Institute.
Go figure...86% (vs 57% nationally) gave positive marks to the city's (Tempe) quality of life and 87% liked the city's (Tempe) image.
Ninety percent were happy with city services, compared with 57 percent of residents nationwide.
Rich posted at 9:09 am on Sat, Mar 10, 2012.
A survey that, if you filled it out negatively a few years ago, you never see again, and yet a neighbor who answers as the government wants answers gets one yearly? That's something to take seriously? That's the government looking for money in fines for invading private property and personal choice. Go figure, specially chosen people who answer that they are happy with city services year after year, get to answer year after year, and people who aren't, don't get the survey. Indeed, go figure.
You have been so conned.
sockratties posted at 9:23 am on Sun, Mar 11, 2012.
Where were all the people who can legally pack a concealed firearm? From what I've been reading they should have been packin' heat and shooting the bad guys. Isn't that the idea. There's no law saying they shouldn't have been carrying. If they're going to be carrying concealed weapons into the classroom to be safe, wouldn't a mob outside a club where a known gang-banger is going to perform be a good place to train? Looks like they missed a chance to be a hero.
Masterrogue666 posted at 5:01 pm on Sun, Mar 11, 2012.
KJDaVinci777: Ouch! That really hurt.....
[wink]
VofReason posted at 1:18 pm on Thu, Mar 15, 2012.
Who could have seen that, a shooting at a known gang members rap concert. Boy what next?
tededitedit posted at 7:20 pm on Thu, Mar 15, 2012.
There are lessons to be learned and improvements to be made after this shooting. Let's hope they are right away! If business owners or city officials aren't holding up their end then they need to be replaced. Criminals need to be dealt with swiftly and harshly. The press needs to do a much better job too. There was an article in the Phoenix paper where Nipsey Hussle said he decried gun violence.Ten minutes of research would have disputed this... check his lyrics in "Gangsta's Life".
hillstreet posted at 12:44 pm on Wed, Mar 21, 2012.
For someone who never rose above the rank of line officer, you sure seem to have answers for everything. This studff goes down weekly in all areas of the state but you have an obvious bone to pick with Tempe. Did TPD turn you down for a job or something?
Unlike you, I have 25+ years with several promotions to management ranks, and as you ought to know, when a couple of gangster morons want to pull their guns and shoot, a cop standing 5 feet from them can't do a thing to prevent it. This was completely unpreventable, unless you are a psychic or a know-it-all Monday morning quarterback. I bet you pick all the winners of Sunday's games ... on Monday.
billrichardson posted at 5:25 pm on Wed, Mar 21, 2012.
Hillstreet,
As an officer in the management ranks how would you have prepared for an event at a bar known to attract gang members and where an LA Crip was going to appear?
Do you believe that a strong police presence can prevent crime?
Do you believe it is the responsibility of the police to know what's going on in their city and respond accordingly?
How do you handle the gang problem in the city you work in?
I look forward to your response.
Thanks for taking the time to read my column.
hillstreet posted at 6:27 pm on Wed, Mar 21, 2012.
I'll be happy to try to answer complicated and complex questions in a few words. As you know, Commanders don't carry crystals balls, not do they have the luxury of hundreds of unattahced police officers they can just flood every bar and gang joint with.
----As an officer in the management ranks how would you have prepared for an event at a bar known to attract gang members and where an LA Crip was going to appear?
The same way I prepare for all of the vents in my city WHEN I know there will be trouble and when I HAVE the resources to deploy. In case you forgot, calls for service still have to be answered and other events in the city, beside thugs bars, also have rto be police. There's Crips and Bloods (and a dozen other gangs) in Tempe, can't watch them all.
--Do you believe that a strong police presence can prevent crime?
That's policing 101...Yes, WHEN you have the resources available. I don't work in fantasyland where there are cops galore and the budget is indefinite...
--Do you believe it is the responsibility of the police to know what's going on in their city and respond accordingly?
Duh, yes. That is not the same as thinking, and misleading the public by your column, that the police are all knowing and all powerful and know everything before it occurs.
--How do you handle the gang problem in the city you work in?
The same way TPD and every other agency does; doing your best with limited resources and allocating those resources based on known need, not ESP. Honestly, you need some time in command to really understand this.
billrichardson posted at 9:55 pm on Wed, Mar 21, 2012.
Hillstreet,
Thanks.
A dozen other gangs in Tempe besides the Crip and Bloods? Does your city have that many gangs?