PHOENIX — Nationwide and here in the Valley, the number of homicides has been on the rise.
The reality is that many of these horrific crimes involve a gun. The Phoenix Police Department is now starting a crime gun liaison program aimed at fast tracking detective work.
“About 70% of our homicides this year are involving firearms, and that’s a massive chunk of homicides,” Sgt. Andy Williams with the Phoenix Police Department said.
With such a large chunk of the homicides being gun related, the crime gun liaison program involves 16 specially trained patrol officers.
These officers are trained to identify evidence and work with detectives who specialize in gun cases.
This relationship, Williams said, should streamline the process, getting evidence to detectives to help solve the case.
“Build the puzzle, put the pieces together start showing that full picture,” Williams said.
This often involves taking the forensic evidence and putting it into national databases.
Often detectives can check to see if a weapon had been used in a previous crime and provide leads to help find the culprit. Doing this quickly matters, as every hour counts.
“The first 48, you know -- the more we can accomplish in the first 48 hours of a homicide the better,” Williams said.
Phoenix police said a similar approach worked earlier this year when they arrested J. Money Alfaro and John Gonzales in the murder of a hiker in February.
Phoenix police said the evidence was able to link them to three prior shootings.
