Brent Whiting, The Arizona Republic
Tony Mattingly, a professional Santa Claus who helped organize Phoenix Neighborhood Patrol, a citywide crime-fighting program, has died.
Mattingly, 52, a west Phoenix resident, died Monday after a long illness, said Officer Tammy Hort, a police community-programs coordinator.
Hort, who is assigned to the Maryvale Precinct, said Wednesday that Mattingly will be missed, not only by police but hundreds of patrol volunteers throughout Phoenix.
“Tony was strongly committed to neighborhood and community programs,” said Claude Mattox, a Phoenix city councilman. “The city, as a whole, has benefited from his efforts.”
Hort said that Phoenix Neighborhood Patrol, formerly known as Block Watchers on Patrol, was launched by Mattingly in Maryvale in 1994.
Within a few years, the program was set up throughout Phoenix with Mattingly serving as a volunteer civilian coordinator, Hort said.
The program, which is similar to offerings in other Valley cities, features volunteers specially trained to evaluate suspicious activity near shopping centers and school and in private neighborhoods.
In effect, the volunteers act as extra eyes and ears for overburdened police. They carry cell phones and call police to report suspicious activity. In Phoenix, the program counts more than 600 volunteers, including about 200 in Maryvale alone, Hort said.
Each year, volunteers offer an estimated 29,000 hours of service, Hort said. Mattingly was the operator of a business that provided Santas at Christmastime for malls and private homes.
Hort said that Mattingly looked the part, including a silver beard, and had a laugh long associated with Santa.
“When you hear him laugh, you immediately think of Santa Claus,” Hort said. Mattingly is survived by a wife and daughter. Funeral arrangements had yet to be announced on Wednesday.