Tucson Unified School District security being issued Tasers and Body Cameras
TUCSON AZ December 12 2019 The Tucson Unified School District governing board has approved tasers and body cameras for a small group of employees.
The tasers and body cameras will be worn by about 20 school safety officers in the district.
The district said tasers and body cameras will be worn by those officers primarily at night when patrolling closed campuses.
Neither teachers nor school resource officers on campus will wear the devices.
“It’s allowing the district to use something other than deadly force in a situation where we have someone who’s trespassing, someone who’s going to attack somebody,” TUSD Board President Adelita Grijalva said on Tuesday night. “We’d like to, if the person is not in the right state of mind, perhaps under the influence, we’d like to make sure that person gets help and is not injured.”
“The implementation of a body camera provides accountability and that’s something that we’ve seen as really important with law enforcement and security in general,” University High School Teacher Jacob Ollanick said.
There was no official word on Tuesday night as to when the safety officers will start wearing the devices, although, the practice is likely to begin sometime next year.
TUSD Safety Director Jeff Coleman will address the board further about specific regulations at a later date.
