The UA announced yesterday it has formed a partnership with southern Arizona law enforcement agencies to combine research with prevention tactics to combat rising crime rates.

University President Manuel Pacheco said this "partnership of the future" will target at-risk children using research conducted at the UA and will influence crime and delinquency reduction efforts within the law enforcement community.

"As far as we know, this is the first comprehensive activity of this type," Pacheco said.

Funding for the program has not been identified, although Pacheco said the partnership will see success only if "significant resources" are made available.

Clarence Dupnik, Pima County Sheriff, said there would be no initial outlay of public money but did say that funds seized under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) could be used to help finance programs and research begun through the partnership.

Michael Gottfredson, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Programs, said the university's role in the partnership will be to provide "rigorous scientific study" so that law enforcement agencies can apply data to crime prevention programs.

"We're not involved in quick fixes," Gottfredson said, stressing the partnership's long-term nature.

Pacheco said the partnership will be active in certain areas. He said they will:

• Establish a council, centered at the UA's Institute on Crime, Delinquency and Correction, that will involve leaders of the partnership agencies in directing activities;

• Propose policy experiments directed at the prevention of crime and violence; and

• Identify funding and conduct promising policy experiments.

Pima County Attorney Stephen Neely called the partnership a "formative group" for which no plan of action had yet been decided upon.

"We're not starting with the idea of evaluating any given program," he said. "We will begin at the bottom and work our way up."

Gottfredson said noticeable results might take five to 15 years.

Pacheco said students in the criminal justice disciplines will be involved with research the university conducts for the partnership, but their role has not been identified.

It is true, Pacheco said, that student volunteers from these particular programs have had much success in dealing with at-risk youth.

Another potential benefit, Pacheco said, would be the training of the future leaders of law enforcement.

Pima County Supervisor J. Michael Boyd said this partnership has been "long overdue," adding, "We're sure something has got to be done. To me, this is a godsend."

The partnership includes representatives from the Tucson Police Department, the Pima County Sheriff's Office, University of Arizona Police Department, Pima County Superior Court, Pima County Juvenile Court, and various city and county agencies.