TUCSON, Ariz. — Tucson Mayor Romero and Police Chief Magnus held a press conference Sunday addressing the statewide curfew, and the city's plans to implement the curfew rules.
Gov. Doug Ducey issued theDeclaration Emergency with a curfew in place starting 8 p.m. tonight.
In the press conference, Mayor Romero said she nor Chief Magnus were informed about Gov. Ducey's order prior to him issuing the declaration.
"We would of liked to have had much more flexibility in the curfew, in terms of the area, but we both (Chief Magnus) heard through Twitter."
The Mayor added she and her public information officers will be trying to relay the information about the curfew as much as possible.
Chief Magnus added that because Tucson Police Department resources are limited that their intentions are to enforce the curfew in areas where there they may see criminal behavior.
"We have no intention of doing a drag net where we're trying to pick up anybody who is out." "We are going to be smart, we are going to use discretion appropriately. Our goal is to keep the community safe and put an end to this kind of violence and destruction," Magnus said.
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The Tucson City Attorney explained that any readily public space that is accessible to the public is prohibited during curfew hours.
"The curfew generally prohibits people from being out in public spaces during that time, but it does include several exceptions, and those exceptions allow folks to travel to and from work, to seek medical care, to attend religious services, it allows for commercial trucking and delivery services, it allows folks to go out to get food, it allows people to operate their private business," Tucson City Attorney Mike Rankin said.
There are areas where Tucson Police will be directing their resources more readily, according to Chief Magnus. Those areas include the downtown area, Fourth Avenue, and Main Gate Square near the University of Arizona campus.
Chief Magnus added police officers will be out prior to 8 p.m., but the curfew does go into effect at that time. He said the goal is not to make arrests, but officers are willing to make them if they do not get cooperation.
Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier released a statement regarding the curfew:
There have been some questions about the Governor’s State-wide Declaration of Emergency and Curfew. I have spoken to the Governor on the phone this afternoon and reviewed the Declaration. It is clear that the Governor supports law enforcement and desires to provide us with another tool to address the unlawful and violent behavior we have experienced over the past couple of nights. We know as the night progresses the level of violence and criminality tends to escalate. The curfew should help to address this by making it unlawful to be out in public after 8:00 P.M. However, there are exceptions to this, as noted below:
“Individuals traveling directly to and from work; attending religious services; commercial trucking and delivery services; obtaining food; caring for a family member, friend, or animal; patronizing or operating private businesses; seeking medical care or fleeing dangerous circumstances; and travel for any of the above services.”
It is not the intent of the Governor, or of his Declaration, to prohibit lawful conduct and commerce.
The expression of outrage and anger over the death of George Floyd is understandable and shared by me. What we cannot allow is the expression of that outrage and anger to be demonstrated in unlawful and violent behavior. This is completely unacceptable. The Governor’s Declaration gives law enforcement an additional much needed tool to address this conduct.
The week-long curfew is effective 8 p.m. Sunday, May 31, until 5:00 a.m. The curfew shall expire on Monday, June 8, at 5:00 a.m. unless further extended.
