City of Tucson Looks Into Police Alternatives

TUCSON, AZ — After a long summer of protests against police brutality throughout the country and the state, the city of Tucson is looking into implementing police alternatives for unique cases. But officials said the city's efforts will only enhance current Tucson Police Department service.

Protests against police brutality and in support of Black lives broke out across the country after a series of high-profile deaths, including George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky. The Monday shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. has ignited protests once again. Tucson had its own lightning rod with the April death of Carlos Adrian Ingram-Lopez while in police custody.

Ingram-Lopez, 27, died after being restrained by police. An initial autopsy report listed his manner of death as ‘undetermined’ and found that he had drugs in his system, as well as a heart condition. An independent autopsy ordered by his family, however, suggested that the way he was restrained by officers for 12 minutes contributed to his death. Body camera footage released by the Tucson Police Department in June showed Ingram-Lopez moaning on the ground and calling out for his grandmother. The three officers involved resigned and his family is now seeking $19 million in damages.

“In the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, the issues of criminal justice and public safety were brought to the forefront nationally, including here in Tucson,” a spokesperson for Tucson Mayor Regina Romero told Patch. “In June, we learned about the tragic in-custody death of Carlos Adrian Ingram-Lopez, which prompted us to scrutinize our own policies and practices to help prevent similar events from occurring in the future.“

Romero and the Tucson City Council have taken several steps to do just that, reflected in the city’s annual budget.

Some of those steps include adding a team of social workers to focus on prevention strategies for vulnerable communities, hiring a Housing First director to prioritize affordable housing, funding an Equity Needs Assessment to determine where inequities exist in city services and implementing a Community Safety Pilot Program that will bring several city services together to better address poverty, mental health, lack of housing and other challenges the city faces.

Additionally, Romero said she has created the Racial Equity and Justice Advisory Council that will center on “intentionally confronting and overcoming barriers that communities of color face in Tucson” and eventually lead to policy changes.

At least one member of the city council said this work will only enhance the services that Tucson police officers already provide.

“We’ve had a long standing TPD rapport with social service agencies that support police activity,” said Steve Kozachik, who represents Ward 6 on the city council. “Our current work is to expand on what is already in place so officers are sure to have access to varying skill sets when they encounter unique incidents out in the field that don’t necessarily require a law enforcement touch.”

The effort has been awarded $5 million in the current city budget. Kozachik said it is money well-spent to better address the needs of Tucsonans.

Tucson has declined to defund its police department, even amid growing support for the action across the nation. When the 2021 budget passed in July, it allocated $166 million of its $1.7 billion total for the Tucson police.