COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Cochise County Sheriff's Office has a new location from which law enforcement can keep an eye on the border.
“We’ve got a lot of activity coming across the border," Rancher John Ladd said. “In the last 30 years Border Patrol has caught a half a million on our ranch. Right now I would say we’re probably getting between eight and 10 people an hour.”
The increase in activity at the border is one of the reasons Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels wanted to have a joint forces border operations building in the county. The Sheriff's Office was able to purchase a building in Sierra Vista because of a $5 million grant from the state.
The building will house federal, state, and local law enforcement.
“Well it’s efficient, for one," Dannels said. "Having a one-stop shop brings all of your resources into one—so state, federal and local; we’re sharing intel, we’re sharing our investigation and we’re sharing each other so whenever you can do that, we’re enhancing our ability to be more effective, too.”
The building cost $4.5 million and the remainder of the money will be used to renovate the space. CCSO's Sabre Unit, which is tasked with watching the cameras along the Arizona border, will also be in the new building.
“Our camera system, for example, that we watch all southern Arizona border, parts of New Mexico and inside the interior of Arizona, this is having a virtual center to watch those cameras inside of it, which is exciting for us,” Dannels said.
Ladd, a rancher in Cochise County, worked with Dannels to have cameras installed on his property back in 2017.
“We started out with five or six and went to 10 or 12 and then all of a sudden we’ve got 15 miles of the border saturated with cameras,” Ladd said.
He said he was open to the idea because it would help him and his family feel safer.
"I said 'if we get any relief out of it, then it's more than welcome'," Ladd said.
The rancher says he speaks with Border Patrol and the Sabre Unit often because of the people who cross through his ranch.
CCSO's new building is scheduled to open in the fall after the furniture and IT equipment arrives.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
