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Councilman Greg Stanton's
North Central News Column
November 2005
Excellent Police Work Making North Central Safer
As a member of the City Council Public Safety Subcommittee, I am fortunate to see firsthand the high level of professionalism in the Phoenix Police Department. Never have I been prouder than the recent investigation and subsequent arrest of the alleged a.m. rapist, who was preying on Phoenix neighborhoods.
I would like to commend dozens of our police professionals who worked on the case of the serial rapist. We thank them for their great police work in this amazing arrest.
Police arrested David Wilson and indicted him on 76 felony charges. They say he had victimized women for about a one-year period, in the Ahwatukee Foothills and in north central. The cases include 10 different charges of sexual assault and 16 separate incidents altogether. Police say that Wilson broke into apartments and raped or attempted to rape women.
Sgt. Jim Markey, supervisor of the Police Adult Sex Crimes Unit, says that hard work and solid strategy made the arrest possible.
“Forensics and physical evidence played a big role in linking the cases together,” said Sgt. Markey. “Ultimately what it came down to was a lot of manpower in the right places using their eyes and ears.”
Investigators and surveillance teams worked closely together, with more than 100 police personnel involved in a task force to solve the cases. Officers spent many nights staked out in bushes by apartment complexes they thought the rapist may hit.
They used undercover cars, night vision scopes and all the intelligence they had gathered from tips and the department’s research experts. This kind of fundamental police work led them to their suspect.
“All of our planning, meetings and analysis had put certain individuals in a place where we felt he would return,” said Sgt. Markey. “With preparation and strong deductive reasoning, we were there. We had surveillance teams in place.”
Police also worked closely with the media, providing information, sketches and repeated requests for information. They followed up on literally hundreds of tips and potential leads.
This kind of planning, teamwork and skill is just one example of the high-quality police work that officers bring to our community. Whether community action officers assigned to help with neighborhood issues, beat officers doing patrols or highly-trained investigators working on complex cases, the Phoenix Police Department is first-rate.
“You lay awake at night thinking, ‘Did we cover everything? Did we miss something? There’s no magic wand, it’s just basic police work,” said Sgt. Markey.
That’s the devotion, intelligence and hard work we see from our police force. Our thanks go out to them for making our neighborhoods safer.
Phoenix City Councilman Greg Stanton represents north central Phoenix. If you have any questions about any issues, please feel free to call Councilman Stanton's office at 602-262-7491, greg.stanton@phoenix.gov or visit phoenix.gov/district6.
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