SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Sierra Vista Police Department, the Cochise County Sheriff's Office and the Benson Police Department have formed a regional SWAT team, a first for Cochise County.
The team consists of a minimum of 24 members drawn from all three agencies, but that is likely to change as more officers are trained to be part of SWAT.
Sierra Vista Police Chief Chris Hiser said staffing the department's previous 12-person SWAT team was a persistent challenge, averaging one callout per month. The regional team allows more patrol officers to remain on the roads instead of being pulled into tactical missions.
"They just work together as if they're wearing the same uniform, the same badge, same patch, and it's just. It's actually made things a lot easier," Hiser said.
The shift also reduces the financial strain on the department.
"A larger SWAT team coming in and taking over, call out. I'm having to call in less officers on overtime, so we're seeing less strain on our on-duty resources," Hiser said.
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said SWAT situations are on the rise across the county.
"The respect we once saw in society has changed. I hate to say it, responsibility has changed. So we have people doing things that create a high-risk scenario that we have to bring in SWAT. So, yeah, they're very busy," Dannels said.
The regional team will deploy across the county and is funded through the existing budgets of the Cochise County Sheriff's Office and the Sierra Vista Police Department. The current agreement runs for two years and can be renewed for up to five additional years.
"At the end of the day, it's one county, one neighborhood, and we're all working together on," Dannels said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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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.
