At its meeting on Wednesday, June 7, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors accepted a $626,000 state grant from the Arizona Department of Public Safety to expand the capabilities of the Counter-Drug Trafficking Partners Task Force.

The funds are being reallocated from the Drug Enforcement Fund, formerly known as the Border Strike Force Fund.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs says the Strike Force, created in 2015, has failed to meet its goals of enhancing public safety, repurposing the force’s $30 million budget for border communities. asked to do. General Appropriations Bill SB1720, passed May 11, allocated $17.8 billion in state funds to health care, housing, and other areas. The budget includes $17,145,000 for border drug interdiction, $12,232,000 for local border assistance, and $3 million for fentanyl prosecution. Yavapai County will receive $337,500 for search and rescue equipment and $22,600 for juvenile detention. Yavapai University will also receive $4 million.

Funds intended for local border assistance may be used by local governments and counties to address border-related crimes, detention of suspects, and related equipment necessary to carry out their duties. . SB 1720 also requires the DPS to submit a spending plan for local border assistance to Congress and the Governor’s Office by Friday, September 1.

Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Christine Green said the fund’s name change had no impact on YCSO’s operations, saying, “Regardless of the name of the fund, we will continue to use it for the purposes it should be used for. I use it for that,” he said. This year’s grants are down from 2022, when PANT received $777,383 in funding for its border strike force.

The administrative change to the fund’s name follows months of arguments by Republican lawmakers that eliminating the border strike force would weaken security.

“Border-related crime doesn’t stop at the border,” Yavapai County Sheriff David Rose, a Republican, said in a press release. “We need the ability to focus resources on human trafficking and drug smuggling, sex trafficking, and cartel-related crimes, especially those that occur at our borders. We thank Congress and Governor Hobbes for continuing to utilize these grants, as is essential to meet these needs.”

DPS will reimburse YCSO for 75% of the labor costs of two lieutenants and two sergeants for $450,000. The role of these employees is to expand PANT to address border-related crime and drug interdiction. The Department will be reimbursed $175,949.09 for one K-9 vehicle, four vehicle license plate readers, and a mobile X-ray machine to support these efforts.

A plate reader was purchased from Vigilant Solutions for $71,381 and a mobile X-ray machine was supplied by Safeware for $62,405. Both are intended for use by PANT, which typically operates undercover vehicles.

“License plate readers are critical to our operations because we maintain a hot list of stolen vehicles or vehicles reportedly involved in serious felony investigations attached to warrants. Because I have it,” said the sergeant. John Johnson said.

Green said incidents like the YCSO’s seizure of 1 million fentanyl tablets last year illustrate the impact border crime has on Yavapai County.