Cochise County sheriff outlines staffing, training and fentanyl interdiction efforts on local radio

Sheriff Mark Danos of the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office told listeners on KWCD’s First Watch radio program that recruiting and retaining deputies and detention officers is a top local priority and that multiagency fentanyl interdiction operations are underway.

Danos said staffing is tight but that interest remains: "I'll talk 2 weeks ago we had 85 applicants for deputy," he said, noting the selection process includes physical fitness, written testing, psychological screening, polygraph and medical checks. He described efforts to keep training local by expanding the office’s detention officer academy and by working with Cochise College to host some academy courses.

Why it matters: sheriff's staffing and training affect response times, jail operations and community safety. Danos emphasized retention concerns tied to compensation and benefits at the state level and urged more competitive pay to keep deputies from leaving for larger agencies.

On detention officer retirement, Danos criticized a 2018 state move that ended pensions for many correctional staff and urged restoration: "You don't want to pay them and you don't want to give them a pension after 20 years, shame on you," he said on air. He said filling jail positions remains the office’s hardest staffing challenge.

Danos, who chairs the Arizona Police Officer Standards and Training board (Arizona POST), described POST’s role in setting academy hours, firearms standards and handling officer misconduct investigations. "Arizona POST is Police Officer Standard and Training," he said, describing the board’s authority to sanction officers up to license revocation.

He outlined Desert Guardian, a state-led interdiction initiative focused on fentanyl: "1 pill kills," he said, and added that last year "just under 80,000,000 fentanyl pills were seized in Arizona out of the 4 border counties." Danos said Desert Guardian combines interdiction, intelligence and search warrants with local, state and federal partners.

Danos also described regional coordination through the Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats, which brings federal and state prosecutors and federal law enforcement together with local sheriffs to share intelligence and coordinate enforcement operations.

Finally, Danos said the sheriff’s office is pressing for pay parity and other retention measures and will speak to the Arizona Department of Education on school safety at 9 a.m. Monday. "They tell us what they need. I'm not the expert in schools. They are," he said, describing a collaborative approach between superintendents and law enforcement.

The remarks were part of a regular Friday morning interview on KWCD’s First Watch program hosted by public information officer Grady Butler.