September 24, 2004

Mesa’s police and firefighters will get a 2 percent raise in January, restoring a pay cut the city began in 2009. The raises for public safety employees come more than a week after the city approved a similar pay hike for the rest of its workforce.

Mesa is offering a Neighborhood Awareness Seminar for residents Saturday at the Utilities Community Room, 640 N. Mesa Drive, according to officials.

After rescuing a child from a fire or car crash, a firefighter hands the child to a police officer for continued care. At such a moment, teamwork among public safety personnel is at its height.

Part 3 of a 3-Day Series

Part 3 of a 3-day special report

Scottsdale will be forced to tap into its rainy-day fund or reduce city services unless it can get new revenue sources for a recently unveiled roster of public safety needs, city budget officials said this week.

The Chandler Police Department will take part in the second annual Public Safety Day and Department Open House on March 2. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the police department’s main precinct, 250 E. Chicago St.

Trees and donations boxes are up around Gilbert for the 2012 clothing and toy drive coordinated by the Gilbert Police and Fire departments. Donations will be accepted through Dec. 17. New unwrapped toys and clothing, as well as gift cards and wrapping items are needed.

I know where my tax dollars are going, and I’m not happy about it. After reading about the Republican’s proposed Arizona budget, I visited http://www.azdatapages.com/datacenter/government/salaries

Mikel Longman, who served 34 years in a variety of police positions in Arizona, has been named chief of public safety at the Maricopa Community Colleges (MCC). In this role, Longman will be responsible for achieving greater standardization and centralization of police functions at the 10 Maricopa Community Colleges.

As the holiday shopping season moves into high gear, police are beefing up their patrols around shopping centers throughout the East Valley and reminding those in the bargain fray to be alert.

The Gilbert Town Council on Thursday signed off on the police department’s application for nearly $180,000 in grant money to replace old equipment and restore training programs.

Mesa is looking to eliminate every fire inspector and scale back homeland security efforts under a stark plan to trim public safety costs.

For the first time in city history, Mesa will enter into negotiations with the police and firefighter unions.

Cities in Maricopa County are in trouble.

In Guadalupe, grocery store employees waited in vain for help during an armed robbery. In Queen Creek, vandalism spread through a neighborhood where Maricopa County sheriff's deputies rarely patrolled. In Aguila, people bought guns in the face of rising crime that deputies couldn't respond to quickly enough.