DPS troopers union urges lawmakers to do something about decrepit, unsafe workspaces

PHOENIX – Arizona state troopers are urging lawmakers to do something about the woefully rundown and inadequate facilities they work from on a daily basis.

“We are so far behind that it’s almost difficult for people to even grasp,” Jeff Hawkins, president of the Arizona State Troopers Association, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Monday.

The conditions are creating safety hazards for troopers and people in custody and making it harder for the Arizona Department of Publics Safety to hire and retain enough troopers to properly patrol the state’s highways, according to the union leader.

“You have an office in Kingman where there’s no septic system or actual sewer system. They go to the bathroom through a pipe right into the ground. I mean, stuff that’s absolutely unheard of,” Hawkins said.

Arizona state troopers working out of repurposed trailer homes

DPS troopers work out of 52 buildings strategically disbursed to provide coverage across the state. Many are repurposed trailer homes.

There often isn’t enough space to separate prisoners from troopers who are working inside.

“All of the buildings that I’m speaking of in northern Arizona, except for Flagstaff, don’t have holding cells for prisoners or bathrooms for them to use,” Hawkins said. “We chain them to the wall. It’s ridiculous.”

The union worked with DPS to put out a video “to try to shine a light on using doublewide homes that we’ve repurposed to try to run a station out of or trailers that we have that are from the ’70s that don’t have HVAC or heating systems.”

Only 19 of the structures were built since 2000, mostly premanufactured homes or trailers that are the agency’s most modern buildings, according to the video.

Fourteen were built between 1980 and 1999. They have limited space and are showing their age and facing costly maintenance issues.

Another 19 were built between 1942 and 1977 and have fallen into disrepair.

Many DPS facilities lack exterior security

Arizona state troopers use the facilities to complete their daily tasks, process suspects in custody and store resources. In the buildings that are repurposed modular homes, the kitchens are used to process and store evidence.

Many of the facilities don’t have exterior fencing, making it difficult, if not impossible, to keep vehicles and other equipment secure outside.

A lack of security cameras is another issue.

“We’d like to have all of our booking areas where we deal with prisoners videotaped to protect my members and also so that people can see what goes on,” Hawkins said. “We also want our parking lots videoed so that we can see who’s approaching our doors or if there’s a situation outside of our building.”

The union has been urging state lawmakers to include funds for facility upgrades in the budget for years to no avail.

“We’ve been the voice to try to get this done, but the agency just does not receive additional resources to address our infrastructure needs. We haven’t in 30 years,” Hawkins said.

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