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5 Investigates Phoenix Kidnapping Epidemic
POSTED: 8:04 am MST July 15,
2008
UPDATED: 4:24 pm MST July 15,
2008
PHOENIX -- Phoenix is in the middle of a kidnapping epidemic, police said.Last year the Phoenix police department handed 359 extortion-related kidnapping cases, Sgt. Phil Roberts said. The ransom demands in these cases can range from $50,000 to $1 million, he said.Officers said even though this epidemic affects mostly drug and human smugglers, each kidnapping call that comes into the department becomes a rescue mission."It doesn't matter to us whether he's a drug dealer, he's a coyote, or whether he's legal or illegal," Roberts told 5 Investigates. "We look at it in the robbery unit as it's a human life. It's a human being out there that's being tortured and we're going to do everything we can to rescue that person."
And even though the victims rarely seem innocent to the eyes of the general public, police said these kidnappings pose a danger to everyone."A lot of these abductions…do not occur in the middle of the night [or] at two o'clock in the morning at someone's house," Roberts said. "We've had people abducted in busy shopping malls, in the middle of the street."The violence is going to spill over."The Phoenix police department is now considered one of the best local police departments in the country when it comes to kidnappings and hostage situations, officials said.
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