AZCPOA Press Release 9/25/09
Esteemed Colleagues and Arizona Citizens,
Our AZCPOA President Mike Duran recently went on television to spread the word and educate the public on what our lawmakers are trying to do. Tax payers are being kept in the dark about the on-going Closed Door negotiations between certain lawmakers and for profit Private Prison Corporations.
The fight against prison privatization continues. We are reaching out to all members of our AZCPOA Union as well as non-members and the citizens of Arizona. The idea of privatizing the Arizona prison system is not the answer to solving the budget crisis as it will only save pennies on the dollar. The real issue we should be focusing on is the issue of PUBLIC SAFETY and the long term effects of doing this. Do we want private security guards running our prisons or do we want professional State Certified Correctional workers and Officers? Arizona Correctional workers walk the toughest beat everyday in order to ensure PUBLIC SAFETY. The work that we do on a daily basis is vital to Public Safety in keeping the most hardened and dangerous criminals behind bars to serve their sentences according to established laws. As public servants we take pride in our work and we willingly make the sacrifice everyday despite the dangers.
Let’s get the word out. There is a human element here, there are actual people involved in this process and their jobs are at stake. A move to privatize state prisons will not only have a negative impact on the people who are employed by the state prison system but it will also have a devastating impact on local towns and cities where most of our prison complexes are located. Both from a Public Safety perspective as well as an Economic perspective.
As of today we have had an outstanding response to this issue and we will continue to move forward. Let’s keep the pressure on our elected officials/lawmakers and the Governor’s office in voicing our opposition. Now is not the time for division, the time has come for all to unite.. JOIN US!
We will not give in without a Fight! FIGHT THE FIGHT THAT NEEDS TO BE FOUGHT!!
http://www.azpbs.org/video/vidlink.php?vidId=1372
azpbs.org/horizon and see the video dated 09/23/2009 labeled private prisons.
Respectfully,
J Rodriguez "jrod"
AZCPOA
Vice President