Occupy Tucson's fate hangs in the hands of police chief
Reporter: Corinne Hautala
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) – The Tucson Police Chief says he’ll have extra police officers downtown ready to handle the crowds from Occupy Tucson and Tucson Meet Yourself. However, he doesn’t have a definite plan if protesters stay past park hours.
One of the organizers of Occupy Tucson says he expects at least 50 to 100 protesters to sleep at Armory Park, in solidarity of Occupy Wall Street. However, it is against city code to camp at a public park or to be at a public park after it closes. Armory Park closes at 10:30 p.m.
KGUN9 asked Police Chief Roberto Villasenor if he will allow the protesters to occupy the park overnight.
“I can't give a concrete answer to that right now. I'm going to weigh the situation as it comes,” explained the Police Chief.
Villasenor did say when making his decision he’ll take into account the size of the group and the amount of resources he has to effectively remove them.
The director of The Department of Parks and Recreation says he too has met with some of the organizers of Occupy Tucson to explain the city codes. Occupy Tucson doesn’t have a permit for the park, but are relying on the First Amendment for protection.
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