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Police stake out UA student apartments

Joshua D. Trujillo Arizona Daily Wildcat Jefferson Commons residents discuss the presence of Tucson Police Department officers at the new student housing complex. Students have expressed concern about the overwhelming police presence.

A local apartment complex largely populated by UA students has been the subject of several police calls and now continuous officer presence at night, but not all of the attention is necessary, some residents said.

Jefferson Commons apartments, 850 E. Wetmore Ave., has been visited by Tucson police nearly 20 times in the past 10 days, said Sgt. Judy Altieri, a Tucson Police Department spokeswoman.

"There's been a significant number of calls there," Altieri said. "There were no calls prior to Aug. 21. Since Aug. 21, we've had 19 calls."

Of these reports, five were alcohol related and six were in response to disorderly conduct or disturbance complaints. All of the alcohol violations resulted in arrests.

Altieri attributed these occurrences to a heavy party atmosphere at the complex.

"There's probably a good chance we were out there for parties," Altieri said of the alcohol incidents.

She also confirmed that the calls for disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace were because of parties.

"They've been having problems with really large parties there," Altieri said.

Residents agreed that parties are common events at Jefferson Commons.

"I heard it was pretty crazy the first couple of nights," said Adam Luvenow, a management information systems junior who moved in two weekends ago. "There were helicopters flying around here, and the cops came last Friday because there was a fight."

Media arts junior Bill Siegle agreed.

"It's definitely crazier on the weekends," he said.

Specific apartments found to be the sites of public nuisance violations displayed neon orange stickers on their windows, and a sign was taped to the pool gates stating, "The pool is closed due to damage done over the weekend."

In response to the amount of activity at the complex, Jefferson Commons management recently contacted TPD to hire off-duty officers for added security. Central Alarm Security already provides private courtesy patrols on the grounds.

Apartment management created an interim office for off-duty TPD officers as a base of operations during nightly patrol.

Altieri estimated there would be at least two officers on-call at the liaison office between 8 p.m. and 3 a.m. during the week, and four officers will patrol on the weekends.

Altieri said this kind of contracting of off-duty officers - at the expense of apartment management - is common.

"At apartment complexes it is pretty common to have them," she said. "A lot of people are contacting off-duty officers to do security."

The advantage of hiring full-fledged members of the Tucson police force is that they have enforcement power, while private security guards do not.

However, many residents claim that the amount of authority present is an overreaction.

"It (partying) isn't any worse than you'd expect from undergraduates at the university," said communication sophomore Alexis Shubin. "I think it should be expected and is typical. For the first weekend here I think it was completely expected."

Edward Parkin, a veterinary science senior, also said the police presence is beyond necessity.

"It's bothering everyone, I would think," he said.

Parkin said his neighbor, who is over 21, was taken into custody for public consumption of alcohol even though he obeyed officers' initial request that he return his beverage inside his apartment.

A nightly TPD helicopter patrol is also an annoyance, he said.

"I'm over 21, so I can look after myself," Parkin said. "I feel like we're in a prison."

Shubin said the measures management and police have taken are in the interests of safety but are extending a bit far.

"How they've handled it has been somewhat overreacting," she said. "I think they're handling it safely but doing it a little overboard."

But Altieri said that the frequency of police presence is ultimately an effective strategy for keeping order on the Jefferson Commons' grounds.

"I would imagine they (Jefferson Commons) probably feel having off-duty cops would be a deterrent" to misbehavior, she said. "Really, they're doing a responsible thing by putting the officers there."

Jefferson Commons management did not return phone calls from the Arizona Daily Wildcat.