Open Letter On Safety To Tucson
October 2, 2025
Dear Tucsonan,
Everyone deserves to feel safe — in their neighborhood, at work, and in our public spaces. We share your concerns about safety in our community. That is why we are launching the Safe City Initiative.
As Mayor, I understand that residents need solutions that prevent crime, break its cycle, and improve quality of life for everyone. Your Mayor and Council have funded services that are proving effective for our unhoused community. These include low-barrier shelters with comprehensive services, the Violence Interruption Vitalization Action (VIVA) program, Community Safety, Health, and Wellness (CSHW), Multidisciplinary Outreach Teams (MDOT), and a wide range of programs provided by the Tucson Police Department (TPD) and the Department of Housing and Community Development. We continue to support law enforcement as one of many tools TPD uses to address community concerns, and we must also continue to fund the services and resources that create a safe community.
We also recognize that, despite all the programs and services we have activated, there are still gaps in effectively addressing the lack of services and connections for people with serious mental illness and substance use disorders. While we know that arrest is a necessary tool, it alone will not solve the problems we face. We cannot arrest our way out of this public health crisis. Clearly, the status quo is not enough. We must demand that our state and county governments step up to help Tucsonans through this public health crisis.
For that reason, we are prepared to consider — and, when necessary, implement — additional measures that keep our community safe while upholding our shared values.
The City of Tucson has created services and provided tools and resources, and we will continue to strengthen them. We will use every point of contact — whether through arrests, community assistance, care coordination, or housing outreach — to connect individuals with treatment alternatives, long-term support programs, and other diversion and deflection options that reduce harm and increase safety for individuals and our community. We will also continue to ensure accountability beyond the initial arrest for those who break the law.
Our Safe City Initiative will include:
Smart Law Enforcement:
The Mayor and Council have directed the City Manager to create a Safe City Task Force. This group will consist of experts who will advise us on ordinances and policies that enhance law enforcement efforts around drug recovery options. The Mayor and Council have also asked the Department of Transportation and Mobility and TPD to develop a Transit System Safety Action Plan, which includes targeted security operations to protect our bus drivers, bus stations, and surrounding communities. TPD will implement Safe City deployments along The Loop and other areas of our community, focusing on connecting people with social services while enforcing the law. In areas with high levels of crime, law-enforcement-only deployments will be implemented to combat criminal activity.
Treatment and Collaboration:
The Pima County Health Department is responsible for providing health services such as mental health care and substance abuse treatment for people in jail, as well as general public health services for county residents. These responsibilities do not fall under the City of Tucson’s Charter. We must leverage our partnerships with state and regional providers to expand access to behavioral and mental health care, as well as substance abuse treatment. This includes working with the Regional Behavioral Health Authority serving Tucson/Pima County (Arizona Complete Health), the state’s Medicaid provider AHCCCS, and Pima County, which can provide essential services before crises turn into crimes. To make real progress, we must address the root causes of what we see on our streets with solutions that can be implemented now.
Prevention and Opportunity:
We will continue investing in programs proven to reduce crime and create safe communities and opportunities for everyone: affordable housing, access to public transportation, youth employment, investments in parks and infrastructure, and after-school programs for children.
Access to Justice:
We have directed the Municipal Court to expand its Community Court and add more sessions. The Community Court is a specialized judicial program that encourages social service providers to collaborate with criminal justice professionals to ensure accountability for offenders through behavioral health interventions. We are implementing a market-based approach to police department wages to improve recruitment and retention of our TPD officers.
Building Partnerships with Other Jurisdictions:
We must use opioid settlement funds and work with the Pima County Board of Supervisors to establish a Sobriety Alternative Facility for Recovery (SAFR Center).
We face extraordinary challenges, but this is a shared effort. I thank our community partners, neighborhood leaders, city staff, and my Council colleagues who are driving innovative solutions.
My promise is simple: your safety and quality of life will remain at the center of my work as Mayor. I will continue to promote new, proven programs. I will fight for funding and action from our federal, state, and county partners to create a Safe City for everyone.
In community,
Alcaldesa Regina Romero
