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Chief: technology has reshaped police work; current data show violent and property crimes down from last year
Summary
Dennis Orender said technology — body cameras, mobile data terminals and cell‑phone video — has been the biggest change in policing since the 1990s, and he reported violent crime and property crime were down compared with the same time last year in Phoenix.
Phoenix’s interim police chief said technological change — body cameras, mobile data terminals and ubiquitous video — has significantly altered police work since the 1990s, and he told Councilman Jim Wherry that recent citywide violent-crime and property-crime figures are lower than a year earlier.
Dennis Orender, interim police chief of the Phoenix Police Department, said, “technology has probably been the biggest change in MDCs … I never would have dreamed in 1993 I'd be wearing a camera on my uniform to capture everything that I do.” He described the evolution from early mobile data terminals to modern laptops, widespread cellphone video and the crime-lab improvements that aid investigations.
When Wherry asked about trends, Orender said his recent review showed violent crimes were down “about 10 or so” compared with the same time last year and that property crime is down. He cautioned that crime patterns shift month to month and that multiple factors can affect year-over-year comparisons.
Orender also said technological advances have trade-offs and new challenges, but overall have made some investigative work more efficient. He did not present crime-rate tables or formal statistics in the interview; the numbers reported were descriptive and should be verified against Phoenix Police Department crime reports for precise counts and rates.
