Most East Valley high schools also have a police officer assigned to patrol the school and surrounding neighborhood. Wessing has been assigned to Dobson for the past two years. He made 22 drug arrests at the school this school year but said the majority of his time is not spent investigating crime. Mesa's Westwood High recorded the most calls, with 462 total for 1998 and 1999. Of larger high schools, Tempe Union's Desert Vista in Phoenix had the least, with 84 in those two years.
Violent crimes are rare, but they do happen.
In Chandler in February 1998, a student was stabbed at lunchtime over a gang-related fight. In January 1999, another student at Marcos de Niza fatally shot himself in the parking lot during the middle of day. Despite such incidents, many educators and police agree that schools are still among the safest places students can be. But I think the campuses are safer now. We do not own nor are responsible for visitor comments.