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Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway said the twin cities of Nogales, Sonora and Nogales, Arizona are shared communities and major centers of trade. He says he wants the former Border Patrol funds to be more freely used as his county sees fit.
As Arizona legislators work on a new budget, the Hobbes administration wants to get rid of the Department of Security’s border strike force.
The unit was founded in 2015 by former Gov. Doug Ducey as a joint initiative of State Troopers partnering with local law enforcement and has been growing ever since.
By the end of 2022, more than $138 million in state funding was directed toward the initiative, according to data analyzed by the Republic of Arizona.
At a military press conference in 2018, Ducey told reporters the operation had resulted in thousands of pounds of drugs, guns and border crime arrests.
“This interagency team has demonstrated what can be achieved when federal, state, and local departments and agencies work together for the benefit of all Americans,” he said. We are fighting the cartels directly.”
However, these results were more difficult to track in the field.
DPS record Acquired by the Republic of Arizona That represents less than half of the Border Patrol incidents in Arizona’s four border counties. They also show that some of the DPS’s statewide drug busts did not actually involve military personnel, despite taking credit for them.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway said he did not support the initiative.
“The Border Strike Force, in my view, was an attempt to use state funds to create this war zone mentality in my county, my peaceful county, and superimpose that image on me.” he said.
We visited Hathaway on a breezy day at his office in Nogales. Borders and walls peeked in the distance. His family has lived here for five generations, even before Arizona was a state. He says the twin cities of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora are shared communities.
“The crime stats here are lower than the average for Tucson, Phoenix, and Arizona. I want to oppose the militarization of
Santa Cruz County is Arizona’s smallest county, but as Hathaway points out, federal employees far outnumber local law enforcement agencies. His office has the same focus as other communities, he says, including violent crime, search and rescue, and property crime.
What about border security? Hathaway says it’s a federal order.
“The Federal Boundary Commission, Homeland Security, CBP, and the District Courts of Tucson and Phoenix have federal prosecutors who handle all these federal matters,” he said.
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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas speaks at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales on March 21, 2023.
Gov. Katie Hobbs said her administration wants to disband the military but not to fund the border. answered the question.
“What our budget proposes is to reallocate those funds where they are most intended,” she said. It’s not military power, it’s not attacking borders.”
Although it ruffles some Republican feathers in the Capitol, Hobbes’ plan for Border Strike Force doesn’t really change much.
According to the budget, the DPS now has Border Strike Force funding in the form of two items. analysis By the Joint Legislative and Budget Committee of Arizona. One called the Border Strike Task Force, which provides personnel and other assets to the DPS, and another called the Border Strike Task Force Local Support, which provides funding for the Sheriff’s Office.
The latest state budget has not yet been finalized.But under Hobbes’ January suggestion, about $12 million from border strike forces goes to border law enforcement agencies. This is the same amount that Ducie last allocated.
Hobbs plans to make about $1 million of this available each year, possibly more. Under Ducey, approximately $17 million and about 58 full-time DPS personnel dedicated to the Border Strike Task Force within the DPS. Hobbs suggests keeping its personnel and funding within the department and moving both to a more general patrol program.
So, at least for now, the same funds are involved and it won’t be called the Border Strike Force.
Farther east from Nogales, Cochise County Sheriff Mark Danells said his office deals with border-related crimes such as smuggling every day, and Border Patrol funding helps.
“Costs and benefits have to be shared,” he said. “Otherwise, we are missing out on a critical issue… Locals, states and federals must come together on this.”
Cochise is a large rural county that stretches along the U.S.-Mexico border in the easternmost part of Arizona. Dannels has been a sheriff here since 2012. We met at his office and at emergency dispatch hubs run by other public safety officials in Sierra Vista.Joint Legislative and Budget Committee report It indicates that funds from the Border Strike Force have been sent to Dannel’s office for at least the past two years, starting in October of last year.
This includes $5 million in 2022 to build a planned new command center in Cochise County where federal, state, and local law enforcement can work together. Another $760,000 from the fund was distributed to the Dunnels and Pima County Sheriff’s Department to hire delegates.
In addition to approximately $36 million received by Cochise County from the Arizona Military Emergency Service, March Analysis By the Budget Committee, on things like border cameras, sensors, and other enforcement tools.
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Mark Danells has headed the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office since 2012, and says his office worked with and received funding from Border Patrol under former Gov. Doug Ducey.
Danells says those funds were under Ducey because the governor’s office asked him what his county needed. I’m in.
“The design of the funding of these border strike forces is to say, ‘Sheriff, what are you doing? What are your needs?'” he said. “Our mission is to be multi-jurisdictional and multi-funding. Can you define more?
According to Hobbes suggestionthe $12.2 million Border Strike Force funds set aside for local law enforcement will be used for a new assistance program that “provides grants to law enforcement agencies in border communities to conduct border-related activities.” will be
Most of that is a one-time funding, but Hobbs’ proposal says it can allocate more money if needed.
The governor’s office did not answer questions about how the money would be distributed or which groups would be eligible to apply. said he could not discuss future plans or funding for the company.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Hathaway says funding provided through units under the Ducey administration did not align with his county’s needs. He said state money could be used for things like mobile command centers and helicopters to respond to incidents.
Hathaway has yet to meet with Hobbes about the proposed changes. But he believes the state cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach to considering border communities and the funding they need. I hope that
“We have 30 to 1 more federal employees than local employees in this county. They already have well-defined border duties that we don’t have,” he said. “If they have the resources available, I really hope they have the flexibility to use them as needed … and have to adopt a crisis mindset about borders to receive those funds. We don’t just say no.”
The state plans to agree on a budget by July.
