TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Crime can be a puzzle.
Now Pima County Sheriff's Deputies are putting more push into efforts to assemble those pieces--- into a big picture -- to cut down on crime.
Last week, when Sheriff's deputies made a drug bust at a home along Ruthrauff it was the payoff of what the Pima County Sheriff's department calls directed patrol.
Deputies pick out the crime patterns in 911 calls, crime reports, and what they learn from traffic stops.
Citizens often tell deputies and police they don't want to bother them with every little bit of trouble they see.
Sergeant Hans Goritz wants people to see their small item could unlock a big case.
"Just call 911 with the information you have because your piece that you may think is nothing could actually be the piece of the puzzle that's going to break some investigation wide open and help resolve that crime and put the bad guy away and give you all peace of mind.”
Since criminals don't respect much of anything why should they respect boundaries? So members of directed response also confer with other agencies like TPD to see if things going on there relate to something going on in their area.
Directed patrols are not new but Sheriff Mark Napier gave them new emphasis when he became the new sheriff.
Sergeant Goritz remembers when auto theft detectives shared the case of a man who had expensive work tools stolen from his pick up. Detectives found someone selling the tools on social media.
"We used my deputies who went in plain clothes and unmarked cars, set up a meet. The guy met us. We were able to identify those items as the original victim's."
The directed patrol deputies and car theft detectives got a search warrant that found the rest of the stolen goods in the suspect's house.
