Stonegarden Operation puts more officers on the streets

Partnership enhances border security, reimburses ypd

The Yuma Police Department is able to have more officers on the street to help the U.S. Border Patrol “deter and detect crime” along the United States/Mexico border, thanks to funding from the Arizona Department of Homeland Security.

The Yuma City Council authorized agreements with the state for the reimbursement of funds spent on overtime, mileage and equipment for activities in support of Operation Stonegarden. The collaboration supports the Border Patrol in its efforts to enhance border security by stopping illegal activity within the city and surrounding areas.

YPD is one of several agencies that partners with the Border Patrol to develop and maintain a multi-tiered level of security along the border. In addition, this partnership allows the city to engage with federal agencies as well as “encourage a positive, long-lasting relationship” with them, noted a staff report.

Under these agreements, YPD will be reimbursed up to $998,859 for overtime and employee-related expenses, $38,982 for mileage expenses and $176,150 for equipment in support of Operation Stonegarden from March 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023. These funds cannot supplement normal police operations or funding.

YPD will be reimbursed for the purchase of off-road vehicle recovery board sets, vehicle gear boxes, 4x4 truck police packages and portable license plate recognition systems.

Councilman Chris Morris said he was glad to see a “healthy amount” of funding going to YPD, but he questioned how the funds would lead to more officers on the street. “It mentions here that this will make it more capable of having more officers on the street. I was wondering if this will be done through overtime or if that was actually hiring more officers?”

Police Chief Susan Smith and

Lt. Robert Connelly, who oversees the grant, explained that the funding will pay for more overtime, but not the replacement or hiring of new officers.

“I was hoping that was the case because it’s a one-time funding,” Morris said.

He then asked whether Operation Stonegarden requires officers to perform additional duties. Connelly explained that the YPD officers will continue to perform normal functions, just

on overtime.

“If we encounter anything that requires the assistance of Border Patrol, we will generally call them, and they would come and take care of anything immigrationor federal-related, and we will stick strictly to local and state law,” Connelly said.

“This is a statewide thing done through Homeland Security. What it does, they do it with every state, every region,” he noted.

The Southern Region includes the police departments of Yuma, San Luis and Somerton and the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office.

“It’s all just for them to provide funds for us to have more people out there, more set of eyes, the potential for us to catch things, more criminal things, such as drug trafficking, that really affects the border,” Connelly added.

Smith clarified that at times YPD might be called out of the city jurisdiction to assist Border Patrol or other Stonegarden units with border-related issues in Yuma County.

“Chief, I’m glad you explained that because I’ve run into some of our men along the border well outside city limits, but I know they’re there to support and they’re not being pulled out of regularly scheduled patrols. They’re on overtime,” Mayor Doug Nicholls said.

“That’s the important thing to keep in mind. We’re not deploying people from within the city to support unless something goes really, really wrong,” he added.