CASA GRANDE, AZ — It's an all too familiar site along Interstate 10 in Pinal County, where sheriff's deputies pull over a vehicle and the occupants take off running.
"She heard that we had a 460% increase in pursuits involving human smuggling, 600% increase in fentanyl," said Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.
Lamb joined a number of local police chiefs and county officials for a round table meeting with Governor Katie Hobbs on Monday. Hobbs held similar meetings in Cochise and Yavapai Counties. "I liked hearing that she's been listening and hearing us. And she's out trying to do something about it, " Sheriff Lamb said.
The governor says her goal is depoliticizing the border. Hearing firsthand from law enforcement about their challenges is going a long way in doing that.
"We want to make sure we're using those resources effectively. Where they can be most helpful to our communities that are dealing with the brunt of the federal government inaction on the border," Governor Hobbs said.
In January, many Republican state lawmakers complained Hobbs' decision to dismantle previous Governor Doug Ducey's Border Strike Force would create a public health and safety crisis along the border.
The Strike Force was created to combat threats from drug cartels and human smugglers.
"Governor Hobbs has stated that she agrees that this is a crisis. But her actions in getting border-related funding to law enforcement says otherwise. It's unacceptable," Republican State Representative Steve Montenegro said at the time. But in Casa Grande, no one was pointing any fingers. "Governor Hobbs, the town of Florence appreciates you listening. But more importantly, responding with resources that keep our first responders safe," said Florence Police Chief Bruce Wallace.
The Florence Police Department is one of five Pinal County police departments awarded grants to help fight border-related crime.
When the governor visited Yavapai County in June the sheriff's department and the Prescott Valley Police Department received a $1.5 million grant to help them battle fentanyl trafficking. In July, the Governor's Office awarded the Cochise County Sheriff's Office $41 million to help fight border-related crime. "It's a top priority of mine to ensure every county is receiving proper resources that are tailored to those specific needs and that they're not getting caught in the crosshairs of politics," Governor Hobbs said.
The Ducey Administration made big splashes along the border from the creation of the Border Strike Force to the short-lived and expensive shipping container border wall, neither seemed to make much of a difference.
Border communities and law enforcement seem to prefer the Hobbs method of targeted responses based on the help they want the state to provide.
