TUCSON (KVOA) – A rally outside Tucson City Hall on Saturday morning in support of the Tucson Police Department. The rally takes place on the same day that Tucson City Council held a town hall to discuss the budget. Rally goers say they want more assistance while Tucson City officials say they have plans.
Timothy Cesolini, President of Southern Arizona Back the Blue, and supporters lined the streets Saturday afternoon, trying their best to get a message across.
“At the moment our police and fire brigade are in a crisis,” said Cesolini. “The security of our community is now in question.”
At the same time, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero had an open town hall meeting on Saturday to discuss the upcoming budget proposal. Cesolini and supporters say they are concerned about this.
“Your budget, they’ll pass it and then they’ll take the money and plant a million trees and not help the officials as they need,” Cesolini said.
Many parishioners called Mayor Romero and said they saw little to no support for Tucson police officers. Some call them “anti-police”. In response, Mayor Romero assures that she is working to allocate more resources to the Tucson Police Department.
“No, I don’t believe in defusing the police, I believe in funding,” said Romero.
Tucson police chief Magnus says TPD has a record number of officers in the department and a record number of murders. Cesolini said the city is not giving officials the incentives they deserve. He says many choose to go.
“We need comfortable wages for our officers,” said Cesolini. “13.9 percent less than any other department.” Everyone paid more. “
According to the TPD, due to the severe staff shortage, officials only respond to level 1 and 2 calls. The budget will be announced in the coming weeks.
City Administrator Mike Ortega said this is an issue he will address personally.
“We lose an average of 10 officers a month and we cannot replace them,” said Cesolini.
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