Approve reoccurring grant award under Operation Stone Garden Subrecipient Agreement Number 240419-01, from the Arizona Department of Homeland Security (AZDOHS) for overtime and mileage associated with the coordinated and targeted public safety operations to detect, deter and/or arrest subjects who traffic humans and/or drugs illegally into the country, in the amount of $391,813, effective February 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026.

The Sheriff's Office has participated in the Operation Stone Garden Grant Program for many years.  The overtime and mileage funding are utilized in coordination with our federal law enforcement partners, primarily the U.S. Border Patrol, to identify and deter the trafficking of humans and illegal drugs into the United States, specifically into Cochise County.  These activities adversely impact public safety of the citizens of our county.
 
This funding allows the Sheriff's Office to strategically deploy additional personnel resources to deter, locate, arrest and/or detain persons involved in the trafficking of humans and illegal narcotics.  The overtime and mileage funding also allow the Sheriff's Office to deploy additional personnel resources to remote areas of our county that are traditionally underserved, such as Portal.  Often, regular duty personnel are not as available to have a presence in these areas due to the volume of calls for service in more populated areas.  The funding under this program significantly enhances law enforcement visibility and presence in corridors exploited by transnational criminal organizations.  This would not be possible without this funding due to current staffing.  This presence not only deters transnational crime (human and drug trafficking) but also serves to deter other criminality and public disorder to the benefit of all our citizens.
 
The overtime funding under this grant award fully covers Employee Related Expenses (ERE’s).  The grant award clearly states that $214,338.06 is for overtime reimbursement and $136,661.94 is allocated to cover ERE’s.  Therefore, the county does not have an adverse fiscal impact due to the acceptance of this overtime funding resultant from a need to cover associated ERE’s.
 
This grant award reimburses the county $40,813.00 for the costs associated with county vehicles being used to support the public safety mission of the grant.  Due to the vast and remote areas involved, the use of vehicles is required.
 
Transnational crime threats in the form of drug and human trafficking do have an adverse impact on public safety in Cochise County.  Our acceptance of these funds ensures coordination, cooperation and intelligence-sharing with our federal law enforcement partners to address these threats.  It allows us to deploy additional CCSO resources, with federal funds rather than local taxpayers’ funds, to ensure we address public safety threats to our citizens occurring due to our proximity to the international border.
 
CCSO personnel deployed with Operation Stonegarden funds remain under the direction and control of the Sheriff.  When deployed under this program, our personnel may be redirected at anytime to address emergencies occurring in the county unrelated to the Stonegarden mission.  We simply must place them off the Stonegarden clock and on the county clock.  Therefore, the deployment of additional personnel with federal grant funds makes more personnel available at a moment's notice to address critical public safety incidents.
 
Supervisors have indicated a concern that participation in Operation Stonegarden causes an escalation in the problematic unfunded public safety pension liability.  This is a valid concern that CCSO leadership is aware of and prepared to address.  It is important to understand that more than 44% of CCSO sworn personnel staff are under Tier 3 of the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS).  Personnel under Tier 3 do not have a defined benefits plan (traditional pension).  These personnel, therefore, have no impact on the unfunded pension liability as they do not participate in it.  CCSO leadership decides who participates in Stonegarden overtime and how often.  Our federal partners do not dictate this decision.  Leadership monitors overtime participation in hopes to lesson the impact to the pension system. CCSO leadership strictly limits personnel to eight (8) hours of overtime per week under Stonegarden.  This will address concerns about “pension-spiking.”  CCSO leadership will work to ensure that overtime is distributed between personnel in all PSPRS pension tiers.  This will help ensure that some overtime duty is performed by Tier 3 personnel who do not impact that pension liability.
 
The Sheriff’s Office has received more than $1 million in public safety equipment with federal funding through participation in Operation Stonegarden.  This equipment award is predicated on the continued participation by the recipient agency in Stonegarden.  Should the Board elect not to accept this grant award and thereby discontinue participation, under 2 CFR 200.313, the federal government could request the return of, or proceeds from, the disposal of equipment purchased under this grant program.  This could adversely impact both public safety and the taxpayers of Cochise County. 
 
The appearance of CCSO personnel on stationary positions in the county may seem nonsensical.  However, it is not.  Frequently, in collaboration with our federal partners we will receive intelligence that transnational criminals intend to transport humans or narcotics through a specific area.  Our highly visible presence serves to either dissuade this activity or more often channel it to an area were resources are better deployed to interdict it.
 
There is a clear and compelling public safety reason for the Sheriff’s Department’s continued participation in Operation Stonegarden.  The flow of hard narcotics across our international border is not only a public safety issue, it is also a public health issue.  In 2024, more than 100,000 people died of overdoses in the United States.  We know that our international border is a significant pathway for the illegal introduction of hard narcotics into the U.S.  Associated with drug trafficking is addiction and criminality.  Human trafficking is a human rights issue.  The victimization of undocumented persons criminally, financially and sexually, is a violation of basic human rights.  Our participation in Operation Stonegarden allows us increased capacity to work with our federal partners to address these very serious issues, without asking the taxpayers of Cochise County for additional appropriation.  We believe that failing to accept these funds to assist in these efforts would constitute a demonstrative lack of commitment to public safety and potential human rights abuses.  
 

If approved, the Sheriff's Office will continue to participate with our federal law enforcement partners in Operation Stone Garden under the conditions and philosophical underpinnings outlined in the Background Statement.     

If not approved, the Sheriff's Office will not be a participant in this program. This will adversely impact public safety in Cochise County.  We will be unable to deploy additional resources in the county to address transnational crime threats coming from the international border and will have less visible law enforcement presence in the community, especially those remote and traditionally underserved areas.  We may be required to dispose of equipment (more than $1 million) as instructed by the grantor in accordance with 2 CFR 200.313.  We will no longer be able to benefit from the purchase of needed public safety equipment with federal grant funds and could require purchase with taxpayer funding.   
 

Please return two copies with original signatures to the Sheriff's Office.