Grand Canyon University leaders collab with Phoenix to fight crime on 27th Avenue corridor
GCU safety center eyes crime reduction in Phoenix
A new public safety center hopes to reduce crime in a notorious area near Grand Canyon University. FOX 10's Irene Snyder has more.
PHOENIX - For decades, the 27th Avenue neighborhood in Phoenix has been known for crime, especially sex trafficking.
Grand Canyon University is working with other Valley leaders to make the area a safer place.
New operations center opens in the area
What we know:
The school is celebrating new developments alongside school and church leaders.
A public safety dispatch and real-time operations center on 27th Avenue is opening this week and features increased crime detection technology.
According to the university, the area has had issues with crimes like sex trafficking in the past.
It's something they, along with the police department, have worked to address over the years.
University leaders say they are making real progress
What they're saying:
"Buying those two buildings, having headquarters there, the latest in video equipment (all makes a difference)," said GCU President Brian Mueller.
"The city of Phoenix is going to share that facility with our police force and together were just going to keep moving forward in making this an incredible neighborhood."
Scott Cain, a resource lieutenant with the Cactus Park Precinct, shared a similar sentiment.
"It's going to add a layer of visibility to the area," he said. "We have the real-time operations center in Cactus Park Precinct, which is a technology platform that has cameras, license plate readers and gunshot detection equipment. We can work with their center to help improve officer response to calls in this area and officer follow up, should a crime be committed."
Big picture view:
The safety dispatch center is just the latest in a series of initiatives to improve the 27th Avenue corridor that stretches from Indian School Road to Northern Avenue.
The university has been investing $170 million dollars over the past decade to improve safety in the area.
Dig deeper:
Last year, they opened the coalition 27Collab that added video cameras to the area and support services for victims of sex trafficking.
On Feb. 11, they unveiled renderings of a future shopping center.
"If you look at what's happened at Camelback and Central, the redevelopment of that area, the shopping, the new condominiums, that's what we want to do here. We want 27th and Camelback to be very similar to Central and Camelback and there's no reason that can't happen," said Mueller.
The goal is to keep Valley residents and students safe for many years to come.