Cochise County sheriff reports border-related bookings, SWAT activity and four-year strategic plan

Sheriff Mark J. Daniels said on KWCD's First Watch that Cochise County law enforcement has processed thousands of border-related detainees in recent years and will continue partnering with state and federal authorities on enforcement and humanitarian priorities.

Daniels, speaking Jan. 3 on the weekly program hosted by Grady Butler and Carol Kappas, said “detention was 4,170” — the number of border-related arrests booked in the county jail since 2022 — and provided additional breakdowns tied to a 2022 state law that criminalizes smuggling the driver. “We booked 822 of those in our jail,” he said of driver-smuggling cases that could be charged under the law that took effect Sept. 28, 2022. Daniels also said there were 564 pursuits that led to drivers being taken into custody.

The figures, Daniels said, do not include most federal immigration arrests because those are handled separately. He said the county received state help to cover incarceration costs tied to border enforcement and estimated that the effort “cost over $14,000,000 to reduce incarceration,” adding that the state has helped pay that bill.

Why it matters: Daniels framed the numbers as part of the sheriff’s office effort to protect public safety in a border county, and to support victims. He described coordination with federal partners and national-level priorities discussed in a meeting with Tom Homan, which Daniels said focused on homeland-security targets, securing the border, pursuing deportees with criminal records, gang enforcement and humanitarian issues.

Daniels also described tactical and organizational capacity. He said the county’s regional SWAT team averaged far more deployments than typical for a rural county. “For us, we deploy 15, 20 times a year,” he said, and later characterized 2024 as an especially active year, saying “Last year I think it was around 80 deployments.” He credited regionalization and partnerships with municipal police departments for that capacity.

On immigration courts and case processing, Daniels cited a national backlog: “right now there's 3,600,000 immigration asylum claim hearings waiting to be heard,” and he said the Department of Justice has far fewer hearing officers than cases, a problem he said federal officials will ask Congress to address.

Daniels used the program to describe internal priorities for the sheriff’s office. He said the agency updates a four-year strategic plan that emphasizes transparency, building trust, fiscal responsibility and community partnerships. “It's a live document,” he said. He also highlighted a local mental-health first-responder program the office calls the care team and said dispatch and communications handled tens of thousands of calls for service in 2024.

He defended the office’s tactics and legal approach, saying critics existed but insisting operations were lawful and ethical: “We did it the right way. We did it legally. We did it ethically.” Daniels cited a recent SWAT deployment in which an individual pointed a gun at an officer and said the team’s training prevented a worse outcome.

The sheriff closed with community-facing items: a year-in-review video the office plans to publish, and public-contact information. “Reach out,” he said, giving the sheriff’s office phone number and social accounts during the program.

Speakers quoted on the record in this article are Sheriff Mark J. Daniels, Grady Butler and Carol Kappas. Other officials and staff were mentioned by name during the broadcast but did not speak on the program.

The appearance was a topical summary by an elected law-enforcement official on local enforcement activity, not a formal county meeting or vote.