The South Tucson Police Department will soon be equipped with new tools to fight crime.
The federal government is providing the department with $4,350 for night vision binoculars through supplement funding from Operation Stonegarden, a program that provides financial support to law enforcement agencies along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The binoculars will support the department in counter-narcotics operations, providing them with the ability to catch nighttime smugglers and street level dealers, said Lieutenant Jeff Inorio of the South Tucson Police Department.
“There’s more to border operations than stopping illegal immigrants,” Inorio said. “Part of it is fighting border-related crimes, which in South Tucson are mostly narcotics related.”
The money for the binoculars is part of $7.2 million in additional funding for Arizona law enforcement announced in August by Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. The funding comes in addition to $12.8 million the state was originally awarded in June through the same program. Part of that money helped the South Tucson Police Department finance overtime hours for officers, Inorio said.
