In an effort to curb unwanted panhandling and aggressive solicitation in high-traffic areas – including, notably, Mill Avenue, near Arizona State University – the Tempe City Council approved amendments to two sections of its city code Thursday night.

Just one day after schools in Tempe were put into lockdown, Mesa’s Dobson High School was partially evacuated Friday following a bomb threat.

Eight years ago, a Tucson man suspected of stealing a bottle of lotion was asphyxiated by a security guard.

I’m writing about Bill Richardson’s not-so-thoughtful column: “Targeting addicts the more effective way to reduce crime in our cities” (July 12). Even though caffeine is an addictive drug and potentially lethal in very high doses, we have absolutely no crime associated with it. Why? It’s legal. Nicotine is a very addictive substance that is very deadly, yet we have almost no crime associated with it. Why? It’s legal.

While both those who support and despise Senate Bill 1070 dance in the streets proclaiming victory after the June 25 U.S. Supreme Court landmark decision on Arizona’s anti-immigration law, the revelers need to remember that there’s a whole lot of very serious felony crime occurring every day in Arizona and the vast majority of it never gets solved and has nothing to do with illegal immigration.

A woman is facing a child prostitution charge after trying to trade sexual favors for a McDonald’s meal.

Law enforcement agencies and major retailers in the Phoenix area hope that sharing information will help them combat retail theft committed by criminal groups and gangs.

“These gangs are very, very dangerous. They are organized like a crime syndicate,” said Tempe City Mana ger Charlie Meyer (reported in the Arizona Republic, March 12).

The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the executions of two inmates, including one who has been on death row for 26 years for brutally killing and dismembering his adoptive mother. The court approved warrants for Robert Henry Moormann and Robert Charles Towery and set their executions eight days apart from one another. Moormann’s execution was scheduled for Feb. 29 and Towery’s was scheduled for March 8.

I cannot understand the insistence on banning guns from school campuses. It seems that some people have the peculiar idea that the behavior of psychotics and criminals can be controlled by the issuance of statutes. Criminals are criminals, by definition, because they disobey laws. Does it make any sense to expect them to obey a gun ban? Psychotics that shoot everyone in sight have no concern for law or punishment; they are basically suicidal and intend to expire with their victims. 

A police union president is calling into question the validity of Mesa’s place on a recent magazine list honoring what are supposedly America’s safest cities to live in.

WASHINGTON – Rep. Paul Gosar’s office confirmed Saturday the resignation of a staffer, one day after a Washington newspaper reported an aide in the Flagstaff office had posted violent and off-color Twitter messages.

“America’s Most Wanted” was an effective training ground for many entering the broadcast television news field and provided valuable experience from internships for those wanting to work behind the scenes on a high-profile national show.

“America’s Most Wanted” was an effective training ground for many entering the broadcast television news field and provided valuable experience from internships for those wanting to work behind the scenes on a high-profile national show.

The American Civil Liberties Union wants police agencies in Arizona to train their officers to use their Tasers and similar devices less frequently.

When a University of Arizona criminology professor asked a class of about 100 students how many of them would be willing to “turn the switch” on a death row inmate to facilitate an execution, Terry Rubey was the only one who raised his hand.

As states face large budget deficits, calls for reforming sentencing for non-violent offenders also are coming increasingly from conservatives.

As states face large budget deficits, calls for reforming sentencing for non-violent offenders also are coming increasingly from conservatives.

As states face large budget deficits, calls for reforming sentencing for non-violent offenders also are coming increasingly from conservatives.

In a short press conference Thursday afternoon, City Manager David Cavazos announced Public Safety Manager Jack Harris will continue to "perform some of his duties, but some things will change" as reports of false kidnapping statistics are investigated.

This week another child who was sent to Arizona State University to get an education was buried by his parents.

Sarah Cooper, a visiting fellow at the Arizona Justice Project, will talk to students Thursday in Deb Siroky's criminology class at Skyline High School. Her topic will be the conviction, imprisonment and release of Ray Krone, the innocent Arizona resident who served more than a decade in prison and two years on death row for a murder he did not commit.

WHITTLESEA, Australia - Disaster teams found charred bodies on roadsides and in crashed cars — grim signs of the futile attempt to flee raging wildfires fed by 60 mph winds, record heat and drought that caught even fire-savvy Australians by surprise.

OAKLAND, Calif. - In grainy cell-phone videos played over and over on the Internet, police officers force an unarmed black man to the ground and hold him face-down on a crowded train platform. Suddenly one of the officers draws his gun and fatally shoots the man in the back — then looks up.