Traffic stops are rising in Maricopa County, at least in the areas served by the sheriff’s office during April and March.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies made 1,822 traffic stops in April, a 70% increase from the 1,072 stops in April 2018. The agency says the numbers continue a trend from March, deputies conducted 1,521 stops, up 37% from 1,113 in March 2018.

“Enforcing the law respectfully and ethically will always be our number one priority, and I’m proud of the work our deputies are doing,” Sheriff Paul Penzone stated. “Traffic enforcement serves several important functions for law enforcement: in addition to deterring dangerous driving behaviors and stopping impaired drivers before they hurt someone or take a life, they also provide us with a chance to interact with the community and remind them we are here, looking out for their safety.”

MCSO said it initiated a review of its traffic safety program earlier this year at the direction of Mr. Penzone and commanders. The initiative included a review of patrol-related traffic enforcement and performance activity; a restructuring of existing staff and resources to provide a dedicated traffic enforcement unit for patrol districts; and implementation of $84,000 in grants over the last year from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety for equipment, training, and overtime funding.

MCSO said the initiative has yielded a significant increase in the ability of patrol deputies to focus on traffic safety as an important aspect of their duties.

The goal is for MCSO to continue prioritizing calls for service while also increasing enforcement activity related to traffic to make the streets and communities safer.

“The traffic enforcement centers around those stops that help in preventing accidents and pedestrian injuries/fatalities,” Michael A. Cavaiola, director of communications and public affairs for MCSO, told the Daily News-Sun when asked what most of the stops consisted of. “I’d have to do some digging on that to see how I can break that down by what the outcome of the stop was and by district. Let me see what I can do.”

MCSO is the primary law enforcement entity for unincorporated areas of the county, to include the Sun Cities and Waddell, as well as several cities which contract for services — Litchfield Park and Queen Creek.

MCSO must work to allocate resources over this very large geographic area while still responding to the same types of calls that a more urban agency does, a release states.

Mr. Cavaiola said MCSO currently employs about 500 line-level deputies — not including supervisors — of whom 275 serve in patrol roles.

He could not provide specific number of traffic stops conducted when asked about Districts 2 and 3, which serve the West Valley. He also did not say how many personnel members are dedicated to traffic enforcement, but said each district has at least one dedicated deputy.

“Each district is dedicating the appropriate resources for traffic dependent on needs,” Mr. Cavaiola said. “Having that dedicated resource for traffic allows all other deputies to be available to respond to calls.”

In April, an Associated Press report found MCSO conducted 15,200 traffic stops in 2018, down from 31,700 stops in 2015, raising questions if deputies are missing evidence of drug trafficking, burglaries and other crimes when pulling over motorists.

The decrease was attributed to court orders put in place after a federal judge found MCSO was racially profiling Latinos in then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s immigration crackdowns.

However, John Shjarback, a criminal justice professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, told the Associated Press that it’s normal to see a drop in enforcement numbers after a major court decision or a major event involving a police agency.

The 3,343 stops between March and April this year suggest 2019’s total should exceed 2018.

Also in April, the Sun City West Independent reported that MCSO handed out 121 speeding citations in Sun City West in March, along with two for running stop signs, two for other moving violations, and one for criminal speeding (20+ mph over the posted speed limit.)

However, Deputy Matt Chase, who is the dedicated deputy for District 3, could not say whether those cited were residents of Sun City West or passers-by likely using the main thoroughfare of the community, R.H. Johnson Boulevard.

Sun City West resident Larry LaCombe acknowledged MCSO’s heavier traffic enforcement in the past months, but said he hasn’t seen them around much in May, albeit 10 days into the month.

“They need to be here more often but they don’t seem to have the manpower to do so,” Mr. LaCombe said. “With many of the snowbirds gone we have lost 30 to 40% of people. Whatever is way better than what they have done in the past but would be nice if they could do more.”