News and Announcements :: December 29, 2009
As we come to the end of 2009, I want to express my appreciation to all of the men and women of the Tucson Police Department in their effort to help make our community a safe one. I want to wish them, our membership and our community a happy holiday season.
In this past year we provided many important tools for officers and the department, one of the really important items was the cell phone device for our detectives investigating child abuse and molest type crimes. Our goal is to see if we can purchase some additional units to further assist other detective units since it is an excellent tool. These are fairly expensive items at around four thousand dollars each, but the payoff comes from quicker and more thorough investigations resulting in solid prosecution of criminals who perpetrate these crimes. The Foundation also purchased some TASERS in advance of a grant recently awarded to help our patrol officers. TASERS are an important self defense tool for the officers that have been found to be as much as 80% effective in reducing officer injury. We were also able to purchase a much needed bite training suit for the K-9 dog handlers.
On the horizon is our Unsung Heroes Banquet to be held on January 30, 2010 at the Ventana Canyon Resort here in Tucson. This is an important event, because it gives us an opportunity to recognize some of the men and women of the Tucson Police Department who go about their jobs helping our community and going that "extra mile" for our citizens. We know from recent events that every time the officer leaves home, that he or she might not return because of the risks of the job. Just recently in Lakewood Washington, there were four officers killed in an ambush that left 9 children without a father or mother.
Sadly many communities wait until an officer is killed in the line of duty before he or she is recognized for the good work that has been done. In Tucson we don’t want to wait as a community for an officer to be killed before we honor them so for the fourth year, we are celebrating the accomplishments of those at TPD who put their lives on the line and go above and beyond for all of us.As a community we know that the threat is out there every night. In the past week we had home invasion suspects fire shots at our officers, missing them. The officers courageously, did their jobs and captured all four without firing a shot. Just as easily as the officers were missed, any of them could have been shot and killed. We take it for granted that the criminals will miss their mark, we hope for it, but we also recognize the reality. This is why it is important that our officers know we support them by ensuring they have the best equipment and training they need to do their jobs, and as safely as possible. We know that helping our officers has a direct safety benefit for our citizens here in Tucson.
Our Unsung Heroes event is an important one and I ask that each of you check to see how you can help us, through the purchase of a table, and bringing your organization to the event, or by becoming a sponsor for the Foundation. For more information about becoming a member or attending the Unsung Heroes Banquet, please go to www.tucsonpolicefoundation.org or call 520-207-2878. Your support is more important than ever.
Finally thanks to our membership for your support and that of organizations and individuals in our community who have stepped up to back up our officers as they endeavor to serve and protect us here in Tucson. Again my best wishes to all of you for a safe and happy holiday season and a happy, healthy and safe new year.