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TWO STEPS FORWARD, THREE STEPS BACK.  TUCSON NEEDS ACCOUNTABILITY, NOT EXCUSES

By Tucson Crime Free Coalition

On June 17, Mayor Regina Romero and Tucson City Council voted to ban camping in parks and washes. After years of growing frustration from families, small business owners, and neighborhoods, this long overdue decision finally acknowledged what Tucsonans have been saying. Our public spaces must be safe, clean, and accessible to everyone.

The vote was five to one, with only Council Member Kevin Dahl opposed and Council Member Lane Santa Cruz absent. Dahl’s vote unfortunately supported the continuation of dangerous encampments and declining conditions in our parks and washes. His stance should concern voters, especially with his reelection on the horizon.

This was a step in the right direction. But since the vote, Tucson has been reminded that action without follow through only deepens the crisis.

On July 3, Tucson Fire was called to perform a swift water rescue in the Santa Cruz River near Prince Road. Two people and one dog were pulled from fast moving floodwaters. Thankfully, no one was injured. But this incident could have ended in tragedy. Washes were never meant to be living spaces, and the longer we allow people to stay in flood zones, the more lives we risk.

Meanwhile, new crimes near parks and public spaces continue to make headlines:

• A fatal carjacking involving a previously deported man
• A stabbing near an eastside park
• A hatchet attack at a bus stop
• A man beaten to death in a park

This is the reality our communities face daily. And still, city leaders continue to minimize the crisis.

Mayor Romero recently claimed that the 2025 Point in Time count proved her Housing First strategy is working by highlighting a reported drop in unsheltered homelessness. We call that claim disingenuous and gaslighting. The Point in Time count is a one-night volunteer effort that regularly undercounts the most vulnerable. Local nonprofits report significantly higher figures than what the city publishes. Residents can see with their own eyes that homelessness is not declining. It is shifting, spreading, and becoming more dangerous.

Tucson Crime Free Coalition participated in the Point in Time count. We respect the volunteers, but we know the count is flawed and should never be used to declare success.

Treatment Beds First

Tucson sits at the main entry point for the narcotics superhighway into the US from Mexico. As narcotics travel further into the US, the law of economics dictates that the cost of those drugs increase. Simply put, the cost of fentanyl among other drugs is simply lower in Tucson than most other parts of the U.S. Low-cost narcotics, an abundance of empty land and vacant and neglected buildings, an understaffed police department, a free bus system that spreads crime and chaos like a cancer throughout the City and adjoining communities, lack of political will to enforce common sense policies, a prosecutor who remains a public defender to her core and has abdicated the responsibilities of her office, a disengaged population trapped in a low-wage economy, combine to create the situation that Tucson faces today.

Tucson is overwhelmingly populated by addicts stuck in the cycle of addiction. Simply look at the abandoned RVs and other vehicles tucked into or neighborhoods and look at the license plates. Addicts and those down on their luck are attracted to Tucson for cheap drugs and virtually nonexistent enforcement of law. Our bus stops and parks have become open air drug markets.

Tucson’s elected leaders continue to misidentify the root causes of this drug/crime crisis and focus on ideology over pragmatism. A prime example of is the City continuing to pour resources into its Housing First strategy, but the results speak for themselves. Tucson cannot build or house its way out of this problem.

This model, which prioritizes housing without requiring sobriety, treatment, or participation in services, may work for some. But for many, it enables continued substance use, crime, and disconnection from accountability. It does not address the underlying causes of homelessness like addiction, mental illness, or refusal to engage.

And refusal to engage is now the central issue. The biggest barrier to progress is not a lack of beds or housing. It is the growing number of individuals who are repeatedly offered support services, treatment, or shelter and who refuse every time.

That is why Tucson should follow the example of San Jose, California. In July, the democrat led San Jose City Council passed a new "responsibility to shelter" ordinance. Under this policy, if an unhoused person refuses three offers of shelter or services, they can be arrested for trespassing. The ordinance also includes expectations that tents will not be pitched near schools, playgrounds, or block public rights of way. San Jose is not turning its back on the unhoused. It is simply saying that continued refusal of help is no longer acceptable.

We urge the City of Tucson to adopt a similar approach. Jail should never be the first option. But it can serve as a tool to intervene, stabilize, and connect people to services. We cannot keep enabling people to live indefinitely on the streets in a state of untreated substance use disorder. That is not compassion. It is neglect.

The city continues to claim there are not enough shelter beds, yet organizations like Gospel Rescue Mission have open beds today. What sets them apart? Treatment. Basic rules, substance abuse programs, curfews, and accountability. These are not barriers but rather treatment for addiction. They are pathways to stability. When the city ignores this, it sends a message that chaos is acceptable, and that recovery is optional.

It is time for Tucson to recognize that Housing First, as currently practiced, is failing to meet the scale and complexity of what we face. We must combine a treatment first approach with structure and compassion with consequence.

Here is what Tucson Crime Free Coalition has achieved by staying focused and pushing forward

·         Helped pass Proposition 312 to hold the city accountable for its purposeful failure to enforce its own laws;

·         Supported the defeat of Proposition 414 which would have made the crisis worse and raised sales tax without accountability;

·         Brought a long talked about concept, the Pima County Jail Transition Center to fruition. It’s remarkable that prior to TCFC, inmates released from the Pima County Jail were simply released into the streets without resources or access to support infrastructure. This effort, has saved over one million taxpayer dollars in its first year, led to a major decline in recidivism for individuals who accept services provided by the Transition Center, and provides a key pillar of services infrastructure to the community as the Transition Center is available to anyone in need of services;

·         Helped push for state level reform to improve existing behavioral health law including Title 36;

·         Advocated for no panhandling signs in the county;

·         We have mobilized thousands to attend meetings, write letters, and speak up;

·         Through meetings, awareness campaigns and tens of thousands of conversations, we have educated the public on the devastating impact of fentanyl and street level drug activity;

·         These collective efforts have increased the public pressure on our elected leaders to the point where they are voting for common-sense policies that they previously either rejected or stonewalled. It was just this past March that the City Council initially voted against the ordinance to ban campaign in washes. This groundswell of support is leading to more change. The City of Tucson’s bans on soliciting in traffic medians and camping in washes and parks are OUR victories towards common sense solutions, accountability, and acknowledgement that Tucson, we have a problem! We, with your support, will use tools like Proposition 312, to force the City to start enforcing its own laws!

This is a moment for action. It is not enough to pass a ban. Leaders must enforce it. It is not enough to release a statistic. Residents can see the truth with their own eyes. And it is not enough to ask voters for trust. Leaders must earn it.

We are nearly nine thousand members (and 4 steering leaders) strong. We are nonpartisan and 100% unpaid. And we are not going away.

If you care about Tucson’s future, now is the time to get involved
Watch the news clips linked on our website
Talk to your neighbors
Sign up for our newsletter
Ask candidates where they stand
Demand honest answers

Donate to TCFC through our website!!! Your funds are treated like our funds, and we desperately need those funds to advance our mission for a better Tucson.

Together, we can restore safety, accountability, and common sense to Tucson.

Tucson Crime Free Coalition