08/24/2026
🚨 Safe City Spotlight 🚨
Welcome to Safe City Spotlight.
Join us as we share real-world examples of how our Safe City Initiative is helping us keep Casa Grande safe—highlighting recent success stories, proactive enforcement efforts, and how technology is making a difference right here in our community.
This initiative combines tools like license plate reader cameras, real-time video, and drone technology to give our officers better information, faster response capabilities, and increased situational awareness—all while maintaining a strong commitment to transparency and accountability.
Real-Time Information Center (RTIC) personnel received an alert that a reported stolen vehicle had entered the City of Casa Grande. After confirming the vehicle, a moving truck, was still listed as stolen, patrol officers began searching the area while RTIC personnel utilized a nearby Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) camera to help determine its direction of travel.
Once the search area was narrowed, RTIC deployed Drone as a First Responder (DFR) to assist. Patrol officers subsequently located the stolen vehicle parked and unoccupied at a residence. As officers began their investigation, DFR remained overhead and provided continuous aerial coverage of the property and surrounding area.
While patrol officers were focused on the vehicle and investigation, DFR observed a woman leave the residence, climb over a wall, and flee the area on foot. RTIC personnel immediately relayed her movements and location to officers on the ground, who were able to quickly locate and detain her.
The 62-year-old woman was identified as the driver of the stolen vehicle and was also found to have an active arrest warrant. She was taken into custody and booked on related charges. The stolen vehicle was successfully recovered and returned to its rightful owner.
This incident demonstrates how Safe City Initiative technology, paired with effective patrol work, can provide officers with a critical advantage during an active investigation. While patrol officers focused their attention on recovering the stolen vehicle and investigating the circumstances surrounding it, DFR provided a perspective from above that officers on the ground did not have—allowing RTIC personnel to observe a potential suspect fleeing the property and immediately direct officers to her location.
The successful outcome went beyond recovering and returning a stolen vehicle to its rightful owner. Through the combined use of LPR, PTZ cameras, DFR, RTIC personnel, and proactive patrol work, officers were able to identify and apprehend the person responsible. This is exactly how Safe City Initiative technology is intended to serve as a force multiplier: expanding what our officers can see, providing critical information in real time, and helping turn an alert into a successful recovery and arrest.
We also want you to understand how this technology works and how it benefits you. You can learn more and explore the following resources:
• Transparency Portal – Learn what the system does (and does not do). Also, read multiple Safe City Initiative success stories.
• Flight Dashboard – View drone deployment data.
• Register Your Camera – Partner with us to enhance community safety.
đź”— Learn more about the Safe City Initiative here:
https://casagrandeaz.gov/698/Safe-City-Initiative
We thank you for your support as we provide a closer look at how we are working to enhance public safety and quality of life in Casa Grande!
Safe City Spotlight — real results, real transparency, real safety.
