Events/Projects :: Capital Equipment Campaign
Capital Equipment Campaign — Thank A Cop Initiative
Empowering a community to promote public safety requires a spirited partnership between the public and private sectors, which is why we are reaching out for assistance. The Tucson Police Foundation's ability to fulfill the needs of Tucson Police Department equipment shortages are one of the ways to build a safe community.
TPF has recently created a Capital Equipment Campaign. The goal is to purchase life saving equipment for TPD officers, as well as other capital equipment needs that will go directly to the officer that works in our community. We have created a list below of some of the different kinds of equipment that officers often need or could use to allow them to do their job better, make them safer, or provide additional safety to our community. This requested funding will provide our patrol officers the ability to receive the necessary items of equipment that will protect and save those who protect and serve. Each TPD officer currently gets approximately $800 per year for equipment, but as we will illustrate below, that money is eaten up quickly when all of the important equipment needed comes at a cost far beyond what the officer receives. The Foundation hopes to fill that gap for the officers with an anticipated allocation of at least $100 in additional equipment subsidy per patrol officer.
One of the items we hope to provide is the ZB-7 TRAUMA PAD. This pad is important because instead of the body taking the full brunt of the trauma associated with a round of bullets striking the officers' vest, this product absorbs and spreads most of the trauma. Why is this important? Last May we had 3 officers shot in an ambush by an armed bank suspect they were searching for. One of the officers was struck in the vest and it saved his life. This product will allow officers to better withstand the shock of the bullet striking their vest and allow them to continuing responding to the situation. This is an important item along with many other items that need to get directly to our first responders. The cost for these items for both the front and back panel is about $100. But every officer should have at least the front panel.
Here are some other items with estimated costs:
Bullet Resistant Vest - $1,000; Auxiliary Weapon Glock (back up weapon) - $500; Surefire Shotgun Lighting System - $250; Cool Cop Cooling Vest - $250; Binoculars and Flashlight - $125 each; Baton, Lapel Mike, Equipment Bag, Utility Knife – all $100; Extra Handcuffs - $50.
The Tucson Police Foundation purchased approximately 700 QuikClot® 1st Response™ units at a cost of over $7,000. These products were recently presented to the Tucson Police Department for every TPD officer working the streets of Tucson. QuikClot 1st Response™ is the latest Z-Medica product for first responders. It is the same proven technology developed for the military, and currently used in Iraq and Afghanistan. TPD officers will be trained to use QuikClot® to save a severely injured colleague or civilian in emergency situations involving severe, traumatic blood loss when medical assistance is not yet on scene, and the potential for loss of life is eminent. These have already saved lives around the country. TPF will continue to provide replacement QuikClots as they are needed. These are not currently budgeted.
The Tucson Police Foundation is requesting whatever dollars your company may have available, to achieve some of our goals on the Capital Equipment Campaign. Our total budget is $100,000 to fund this project. We have currently raised $10,000 through private donations. Our hope is that the business community will step up with private donations to fund the balance of this project. Your generous grant would put us on our way of doing something special for the men and women who put their lives on the line for Tucson citizens every single day.