Police crack down on crime in the Agua Fria River bottom: 'Just not acceptable'

AVONDALE, Ariz. - Police are cracking down on crime in an unexpected place – the Agua Fria River bottom in the west Valley.

The land is owned by Maricopa County Flood Control District, and crime down there is getting out of control.

A two and a half mile stretch of the river bottom is home to a diverse ecosystem, and it's a place where no human beings should be, and yet, just this year alone, law enforcement has made hundreds of arrests for trespassing and other crimes.

It's a restricted area and is off limits to people, but that doesn't stop some from going there anyway.

"There's been a lot of homes here for generations. What was once accepted a long time ago about off-highway vehicle use and weapons offenses, for example, coming down to the river bottom and shooting, that's just not acceptable anymore," said Officer Daniel Benavidez, an Avondale Police Department neighborhood resource officer.

Old habits do die hard.

If those shots being fired weren't enough, while reporting on this story, the FOX 10 crew found shell casings from bullets in the river bottom.

"People don't know it, but if they fire a gun in the river bottom, that bullet can travel a long distance, and we have to keep in mind that our neighbors are right next to the river bottom, and they want to feel safe," Officer Benavidez said.

In the seven-month stretch between May and November this year, Avondale Police have arrested 286 people in the river bottom, mostly for trespassing.

The arrests are due, in part, to extra patrolling from multiple agencies.

"Another thing that we've done is, we've assigned two extra patrol officers to a weekend swing shift and their first role at the beginning of their shift is to come out to the river bottom between Lower Buckeye and the Gila River and enforce any violations that they see," Officer Benavidez explained.

Avondale City Council is also helping with enforcement through funding connected to a city plan.

"One of the items in that plan is to insert a barbed wire fence around a large portion of the river bottom just to prevent that egress and degress for off-highway vehicles. Our vision is that there's no one down here, ever, other than the property owners and those who have a lawful right to be," Officer Benavidez said.

Within the next few months, Avondale Police will be receiving two specialized ATV units to allow them to respond even faster to river bottom crime.