Citizen Staff Writer
Law and Order Report
FERNANDA ECHÁVARRI
fernanda@tucsoncitizen.com
Sheriff’s deputies will no longer serve as school resource officers at 12 school districts in the county after this school year.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department suspended the program because of budget problems, said Deputy Dawn Barkman, a department spokeswoman.
An anticipated $5.5 million department budget shortage prompted the program’s suspension, Barkman said.
The program would have started its ninth year in the fall serving seven high schools, 17 middle schools and 37 elementary schools in the county, she said.
Hohokam Middle School, 7400 S. Settler Road, will be affected by the program cut.
“I really hate to see it go,” said John Michel, the principal. “The deputies spend a lot of time here talking to our kids and controlling the area.”
Michel said the program has “a lot of pluses” and he hopes it can be reinstated soon.
The program was funded through a Community Oriented Policing Services: Cops In Schools grant starting in 2001, Barkman said.
The program’s 22 deputies will be assigned to basic patrol duties at the end of May, she said.
County school resource officers program victim of budget ax