TUCSON, Ariz. – Starting in July, the Tucson Police Department (TPD) will eliminate the 46-year-old school resource officer program, moving the officers out of the schools and onto the streets.
Spokesperson Sgt. Fabian Pacheco for the TPD said the cut is due to lack of funds. Currently the police department is spending $2.8 million on the program; however, in 2009, officers need to be deployed elsewhere.
Once the program is dissolved, Tucson Unified School District schools will lose 15 officers, which, according to Warren Allison, TUSD Coordinator of School Safety, will cut security in half.
Additionally, the TPD cut the vice unit, which consisted of seven officers, in March in order to place more officers on the street.
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