A diverse community of abundant, native amphibians is persisting along waterways of urban and urbanizing Tucson. Community and government leaders in Tucson support the concept of urban amphibian conservation in principle. Meanwhile, concurrent, commingled plans for infrastructure improvements and ecological restoration along major urban riparian corridors are being developed under leadership from Pima County, City of Tucson, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Paradoxically, as this work gets underway, it could impact local amphibian populations – temporarily via direct earth-moving impacts, and permanently via elimination of seasonal waters in which amphibians breed. Pima County wishes to minimize these negative impacts, and to learn how to protect, manage and improve habitat conditions for native amphibians. This report describes means by which—despite complex public health issues—such conservation may be possible with proper planning.

Many Arizona street-level police officers and sheriff’s deputies report that they are skeptical of the ability of Arizona’s “pro-arrest” policy to reduce domestic violence, frustrated by a perceived lack of follow-up from prosecutors, and often at odds with victims whose predicaments they may not fully understand.

Domestic violence is a major social problem throughout Arizona, and a major daily challenge for law enforcement officers. Every day in Arizona, domestic violence injures victims, damages property, destroys families, breeds further crime and anti-social behavior, and perpetuates itself in younger generations. Like most states, Arizona has "criminalized" domestic violence (DV) by adopting laws and policies that bolster law enforcement officers’ arrest powers and require them to arrest suspects under certain circumstances.