Northern Arizona sheriffs fighting for cut of $30 million border strike force fund

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - Two sheriffs from Northern Arizona are fighting for a cut of the $30 million used to fund the border strike force.

The sheriffs from Navajo and Yavapai counties say they need it because their counties are seeing increased crimes coming up from the border. “What we would like to do is augment our drug interdiction program,” said Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse. “Navajo County has 70 miles of Interstate 40, we seeing that a large portion of drugs that come from the border that are leaving the state on Interstate 40.”

Former Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, established the Border Strike Force in 2015. This year, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said she wants to dismantle the unit and redistribute the money to border communities directly. In her budget summary, the governor said the border strike force did not achieve what it set out to do.

Hobbs has said the money would be better spent by local law enforcement agencies who are actually on the border and organizations like nonprofits that support those communities.

Arizona Department of Public Safety numbers show that from January 2021 through March of last year that more than 60 of all Strike Force enforcements occurred in non-border counties.

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