A proposed amendment to a $1.9 million contract with the Arizona Military Emergency Department and the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office has been approved by the Cochise County Board of Supervisors to provide facilities to prosecute border-related crimes such as drug trafficking and smuggling. provided funding.
Under the initial agreement approved by the Board in December 2022, DEMA will distribute a total of $1,947,500 in nine monthly payments for fiscal year 2023. Your monthly payment will not exceed $216,388.
However, the new amendments change the way funds are distributed. Currently, DEMA will pay for services or refunds within 30 days of receiving an invoice from the county.
The money was requested by the CCSO to finance the purchase of a large, heavy-duty pickup truck with Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT) push bumpers, which the CCSO said would help immobilize smuggled vehicles.
CCSO said in its agenda that it cannot buy three-quarters of a tonne vehicles from regular vendors, citing supply chain issues and an 18-month delay in commercial vehicle deliveries. .
The department would like to purchase the available four-door 3/4-ton trucks and equip them with funds from the DEMA contract.
The board also signed a modified $8 million contract with Western Sky Aviation to provide the county with a five-year helicopter contract to support the sheriff’s office, which covers 6,200 square miles of the county and three mountain ranges. approved.
The CCSO is on the agenda for better and faster access to remote or inaccessible areas through the use of helicopters to combat smuggling, maintain digital surveillance equipment, expedite medical response and support search and rescue. said to be provided.
A three-year contract with Western Sky Helicopters, formerly known as Aerial Solutions, was funded through a private foundation.
According to the agenda, Cochise County has approximately 1,500 smugglers per month who enter the area from the U.S.-Mexico border and smuggle people north from the border into the Phoenix area.
CCSO estimates that Cochise County law enforcement conducts an estimated 2 to 10 high speed chases each day.
