Safe City Initiative

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.

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 is organized around six priorities that work together to improve safety and quality of life. Each priority includes actions led by the City, the Tucson Police Department, Pima County, and community partners.

1. Increasing Access & Resources for Homeless Persons and Families

Reduce barriers to housing and move people more quickly from unsheltered situations into safe, stable options by improving shelter transitions, strengthening access to resource information, expanding supportive housing pathways, and supporting work programs.

2. Improving Coordination for People with Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders

Connect people in crisis to care whenever possible by improving coordination with providers, expanding treatment and recovery supports, strengthening co-responder and deflection services, expanding specialty and alternative court pathways, and advancing the Sobering Alternative for Recovery (SAFR) Center.

3. Strengthening Violence Prevention and Intervention

Reduce violence through coordinated prevention and intervention by strengthening goals and accountability for the Office of Violence Prevention and Intervention (OVPI), maintaining regional shooting-review coordination, expanding the Violence Interruption and Vitalization Action (VIVA) initiative and transit safety efforts, publishing a public-facing gun-crime dashboard, and launching focused deterrence strategies.

4. Strengthening Regional and Community Collaboration

Improve outcomes through shared problem-solving across partners by expanding the Pima County Transition Center, aligning regional homelessness efforts with the Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness (TPCH), engaging philanthropy and community partners, and expanding diversion-oriented court and pilot programs.

5. Advancing Data and Technology Accountability

Build public trust through transparent, responsible use of data and technology by reporting publicly, strengthening audits and data quality, reviewing high-impact tools through governance and oversight, and supporting coordinated response through the Community Safety and Response Center (CSARC) and regular crime-reduction tracking.

6. Expanding Community Outreach and Engagement

Strengthen two-way communication and follow-through by building neighborhood partnerships, gathering feedback from residents impacted by safety concerns, hosting listening sessions, sharing updates through a web portal and SMS notifications, and coordinating cleanups in priority areas.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the specific measures that will be used to show whether Safe City efforts are producing real improvements, not just activity. Some KPIs will track outcomes (e.g., housing placements), while others will focus on system performance (e.g., diversions to services, response coordination, and engagement). When reported consistently over time, these KPIs help the City and community partners identify what is working, where gaps remain, and what needs adjustment.

KPIs will be shared through a public-facing dashboard on this site with monthly updates. The dashboard will include KPIs on:

• Positive housing exits from City-owned shelters

• Diversions to treatment and services

• Violence trends near VIVA locations

• Transit safety

• Data quality & transparency

• Community clean-up activity

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

City of Tucson Representatives

Pima County Representatives