Tuscon PD to eliminate school-based officer program

Apr. 26--Tucson police officers who have been assigned to work directly in local middle schools will be sent back out on patrol starting in June, after the outgoing police chief put a halt to a program that has existed for more than 45 years.

School officials received word Wednesday that the 23 school resource officers working in 110 schools will not be available next school year.

The move didn't come entirely as a surprise. The $2.8 million program, which began in 1962 to help combat juvenile delinquency, already had been scaled back to focus primarily on middle schools, with some presence in elementary schools.

And in January, City Manager Mike Hein circulated a memo to City Council members sharing some discretionary items that might be used to close an $11 million budget shortfall. The school resource program was close to the top of that list.

Police Chief Richard Miranda decided to end the program because he wants more officers on patrol. Of the 361 positions available for patrol duty, 27 are vacant, with officers on medical leave or military duty.

"These service gaps need to be filled if we are to meet the future service needs of our community," said Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.