Safe City Initiative
Safe City is Tucson’s coordinated initiative to improve community safety and quality of life by aligning homelessness response, mental health and substance use support, violence prevention, courts, and public safety partners. The goal is to deliver the right response by the right professionals at the right time while strengthening coordination, access to care, and long-term stability.
Download the Safe City Action Plan
Why Safe City is Needed
Tucson faces a set of interconnected challenges—housing instability and homelessness, untreated mental health needs, substance misuse, and community violence—that can strain emergency response systems and affect neighborhood well-being. Safe City organizes the City’s work into a clear framework that connects prevention, intervention, enforcement, and community engagement so progress is measurable, coordinated, and responsive to community needs.
What Safe City Does Differently
Safe City improves how the City and its partners work together to reduce fragmentation in service delivery and provide clear next steps to those who need them. The focus is on coordination and follow-through across services that are often related in real life: housing instability, behavioral health needs, and safety concerns. This includes:
• Better coordination across City departments and regional partners
• Earlier intervention to reduce repeat crises and prevent escalation
• Clearer pathways to services so people can access help and move toward stability
• Data-informed decision-making with accountability and transparency about results
Safe City Task Force
The Safe City Task Force is a community-facing advisory group that helps guide implementation of the Safe City initiative. The Task Force provides a forum for the City, regional partners, service providers, and community members to share information, surface barriers, align efforts, and track progress over time. It is designed to strengthen coordination and accountability by ensuring the initiative remains grounded in community needs and real-world implementation challenges.
The Task Force will:
- Review and provide input on Safe City priorities, strategies, and performance measures
- Support coordination across City departments, Pima County, and community-based partners
- Help identify gaps, barriers, and opportunities to improve outcomes
- Receive updates on progress, including Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and support transparent public reporting
Who participates
Task Force membership includes representatives from City of Tucson departments, Pima County, community-based service providers, and community leaders. Participation is intended to reflect the range of partners involved in prevention, crisis response, service connection, and neighborhood-based efforts.
Community Representatives
| Name |
Organization |
Title / Role |
| Ailsa Guardiola Gonzalez |
Faith-Based Representative |
|
| Danell Jessup |
Primavera Foundation |
TPCH Board Member |
| Tom Litwicki |
OPCS |
Representing Homeless Providers |
| Lance Meeks |
Goodwill Southern Arizona |
Representing Violence Interruption and The Village Advisory Committee |
| Crystal Moore |
Downtown Tucson Partnership |
|
| Rosario Navarrette |
QuikTrip |
Representing Retail and Retail Theft Issues |
| Enrique Olivares-Pelayo |
Just Communities Arizona |
Community Safety Incubator Program Manager |
| Dan Raneri |
La Frontera |
Representing Behavioral Health and Low-Income Housing Development |
| Mike Sanchez |
Teamsters Local 104 |
Representing SunTran Bus Operators |
| Mayor Tom Volgy |
Community Member |
|
| Desirée Voshefsky |
Community Medical Services |
Community Impact Manager; VIVA Board Representative |
City of Tucson Representatives
| Name |
Department / Office |
Title / Role |
| Brandi Champion |
City of Tucson |
Community Safety Health and Wellness Program Director |
| Aeric Koerner |
Tucson Police Department |
Analysis Administrator |
| Roi Lusk |
City Attorney's Office |
City Attorney |
| Chris Mazzarella |
IT Department |
Chief Information Officer |
| Liz Morales |
City Manager's Office |
Assistant City Manager |
| AC Stacie Schaner |
Tucson Police Department |
Assistant Police Chief |
Pima County Representatives
| Name |
Department / Office |
Title / Role |
| Dr. Theresa Cullen |
Pima County Health Department |
Public Health Director |
| Steve Holmes |
County Administration's Office |
County Administrator |
| Nahrin Jabro |
Pima County Attorney's Office |
Director of Specialty Courts |
| Kate Vesely |
Justice Services |
Director of Justice Services |
Attend a Safe City Connect Transit Engagement Event
The City of Tucson invites residents to join Safe City Connect, an open forum focused on the Transit Safety and Security Action Plan, approved by Mayor and City Council in December 2025. This session will share updates from City leadership, provide information on transit safety and security initiatives, and gather community feedback to help shape policy and decision-making. Register today at the link below!
Safe City Connect Events
| Session |
Date / Time |
Location |
| Ward 1 & 5 |
Monday, August 10 (In person)
5:30–7:30 p.m. |
El Pueblo Activity Center
101 W. Irvington Road, Building 9
Tucson, AZ 85714 |
| Citywide |
Tuesday, August 11 (Virtual)
12:00–2:00 p.m. |
Zoom (Link provided upon registration) |
| Ward 3 & 6 |
Wednesday, August 12 (In person)
5:30–7:30 p.m. |
Randolph Recreation Center
200 S. Alvernon Way
Tucson, AZ 85711 |
| Ward 2 & 4 |
Thursday, August 13 (In person)
5:30–7:30 p.m. |
Ward 2 Office
7829 E Broadway Boulevard
Tucson, AZ 85715 |
Safe City Priorities & Performance Indicators
The Safe City Action Plan is organized around six interconnected priorities addressing homelessness, behavioral health, violence, and community safety through coordinated action by the City of Tucson, the Tucson Police Department, and community partners. Explore each priority below to learn about its focus and view the related dashboards used to monitor progress, inform adjustments, and support transparency and accountability.
Priority 1: Increasing Access and Resources for Unsheltered Individuals
This priority focuses on helping people experiencing homelessness move toward safe, stable housing by improving shelter transitions, access to resources, housing pathways, and homelessness prevention. The dashboard below tracks one indicator of this work: the percentage of people leaving City-owned shelters for positive housing destinations.
Priority 2: Improving Coordination for People with Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
This priority focuses on connecting people experiencing mental health or substance use crises with appropriate care by strengthening coordination, treatment and recovery options, co-response services, deflection pathways, and specialty courts. The dashboard below tracks one indicator of this work: recorded deflections from arrest or jail to treatment and supportive services.
Priority 3: Promoting Community Safety
This priority focuses on reducing violence and improving transportation safety through coordinated prevention, intervention, enforcement, and community partnerships. The dashboard below tracks one indicator of this work: the number of violent and gun-related crime incidents in VIVA zones, where the City is concentrating place-based violence prevention efforts.
3.1 Violent and Gun-Related Crime in VIVA Zones
3.2 Bus Stop Safety Incidents
Priority 4: Strengthening Regional and Community Collaboration
This priority focuses on strengthening coordination among the City, Pima County, courts, service providers, and community partners to align resources and connect people with the right support. The dashboard below tracks one indicator of this collaborative work: the percentage of people visiting the Pima County Transition Center who obtain shelter or at least one ongoing service connection within 30 days.
Priority 5: Advancing Data and Technology for Accountability
This priority focuses on strengthening how public safety data and technology are used to guide decisions, coordinate emergency response, protect privacy, and support transparency and accountability. Because these efforts depend on reliable and responsibly managed information, the dashboard below tracks the percentage of selected Safe City datasets that meet the City’s standards for data stewardship, lineage, completeness, and consistency.
Priority 6: Expanding Community Outreach and Engagement
This priority focuses on engaging residents and community partners to identify needs, strengthen coordination, share information, and translate feedback into action. The dashboards below track two indicators of this work: clean-up events in priority areas and the number of service connections accepted for every 100 people reached through community outreach.
6.1 Clean-Up Events
6.2 Community Outreach Service Connections