Adriana Chairez and Margo Susco, two local business women, held a nine-hour rally to support law enforcement near downtown’s Ronstadt Center on Wednesday, July 13.
Concerned with what they viewed as the general lack of support for police both at the national and local levels after the murder of five police officers in Dallas, the women were convinced that now is the time to show appreciation for the work that the police perform on behalf of their communities.
Susco said that though the local officials profess support for Tucson Police Department, the actions of those officials do not reflect that rhetoric. Both Susco and Chairez share the opinion that TPD police officers have been asked to do more and more, extending duties beyond those of traditional law enforcement—providing water to homeless people, for example—without a concomitant increase in resources.
Some ongoing problems include police compensation and equipment.
A pattern has developed in which TPD officers are recruited, sent through the academy, then after a couple of years are “poached” by neighboring jurisdictions, which offer higher wages and benefits. Tucson makes the investment, neighboring jurisdictions reap the majority of the benefits. This would appear to cost the City of Tucson more than would a substantial increase in wages.
New TPD officers receive body armor (vests) upon completion of their academy training, but they degrade over time and need to be replaced after five years. TPD does not supply replacement the body armor. The officers must pay for them out of their $640 annual equipment allowance, which is used for the purchase of gear including vests, service weapons, restraints, etc. With quality armor often costing in excess of $1,000, officers are faced with yet more tough choices. The Tucson Police Foundation does help with replacing expired armor.
There was a brief counter to the women’s message which consisted of a few young men chanting “Fuck the police!” from across the street, but after a little conversation and more than a little water provided by the women, the young men had a change of heart and abandoned their efforts.
Jonathan Hoffman is the Weekly’s resident libertarian columnist.
This article appears in Jul 7-13, 2016.
I have long believed that the cities/departments that hire officers within 5 years of completing TPD training should have to reimburse TPD for a portion of the training costs.
Thank you ladies. We don’t need you to report on the malcontents across the street shouting obscenities. They are part of the problem.
Ratt:
Reporting on the men shouting the obscenities was a good call. It credits the women by showing that they have the ability to influence those who may not believe as they do. It shows that people can meet somewhere in the middle and cast aside some of their negativity. I give credit to these ladies for this action and the writer of this article for including their interaction with these men.
These two women had the courage to stand up and have their voices heard. They were not intimidated by the bully of the block. They voiced their support for our men and women in blue. If only there would be more of us with the courage to say I’ve had enough, I’m done with the B.S. If we only had the courage to say, We will not tolerate this type of lawless behavior in our city, state, or in our country any longer. Our laws and those courageous men and women who enforce them have our full support. We will not back down, we will not allow a movement that condones the killing of our officers to intimidate us. If those entrusted fail to do their job and are reckless in their judgement, then they will be held accountable. However, a jury of their peers will be the ones to pass judgement upon them and find them and either guilty or not guilty, and not a vigilantly mob ready to lynch them without having the luxury of due process.
Many African Americans in America, were lynched without a trial, they were found guilty solely on the basis of the color of their skin and murdered. However, isn’t the’ Black Lives Matter’ organization demanding officers also be charged without a trial, because of the color of their uniform ?
God bless our police. The President and the AG have responsibility for this. They worked to weaken protective equipment that was available to law enforcemebt, after Baltimore. The killers know this and are taking advantage of it. Dallas and now Baton Rouge are both discharged military, that fought for their country, only to come home and murder fellow citizens and police officers.