AZMEX POLICY 22-7-18

AZMEX POLICY 22 JUL 2018


Washington takes notice: Dannels offered seat on Homeland Security advisory council
By Emily Ellis emily.ellis@myheraldreview.com Jul 20, 2018

https://www.douglasdispatch.com/news/washington-takes-notice-dannels-offered-seat-on-homeland-security-advisory/article_03171e2a-8ca4-11e8-b408-6f8784960740.html

Washington takes notice: Dannels offered seat on Homeland Security advisory council
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, center, has been offered an appointed seat on a Department of Homeland Security advisory council in Washington, D.C. He will meet President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen on Monday to discuss the appointment.
MARK LEVY HERALD/REVIEW

The Department of Homeland Security is getting a new voice, and it's coming from Cochise County.

Sheriff Mark Dannels has been offered an appointed seat on the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council in Washington, D.C., following recognition of the successful border-security initiatives carried out by the Cochise County Sheriff's Office in partnership with other local agencies.

Dannels is traveling to the capital on Sunday, and is scheduled to meet with DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and President Donald Trump to discuss the appointment the following day.

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It was during a tour of the Arizona border in June that Nielsen first brought up the the idea of bringing Dannels on to the council after meeting with him in Douglas, said Carol Capas, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office.

"After her visit, it was determined that he could be a voice in the community and a part of that advisory council," said Capas. "It's typically made up of members of the DHS and other federal agencies."

High-ranking military officers and executives currently fill the majority of the seats at the council, which made national headlines this week after four members resigned over the current administration's hard-line immigration policies, reported the Washington Post.

Dannels said enforcing immigration policy was the responsibility of federal law enforcement, not local.
"I believe in staying in our lanes when it comes to immigration policy," he said.

The Herald/Review reached out to DHS for a comment on the appointment, and was told the agency's procedure for media requests takes days to process. However, Dannels is the first local sheriff ever to have been offered a seat on the council, according to a CCSO media advisory.

"What I believe it does is bring this community voice into a bureaucracy," said Dannels. "I think that voice gets lost, and I'm going to bring that voice to these folks who sometimes forget what the community is all about."

Cochise County's innovative border security initiatives, many of which have gained national recognition, were what put the sheriff's office on the White House's radar. Among them are the Borders to Backyards program, in which sheriffs from throughout the U.S. traveled to the county to get an overview of the drug smuggling issue and to tour the border, along with implementing a ranch patrol program.

Other programs include a project to install cameras along known smuggling routes in Cochise County, which is managed by the Southeastern Arizona Border Region Enforcement Team, a group of DPS border strike force members and members of the Cochise County Sheriff's Office.

Out of the 70 percent apprehension rate based on the camera system, there is a 100 percent conviction rate for criminal drug smuggling in the county, said Capas.

Another nationally recognized initiative was Operation Immediate Consequences, an effort by the county attorney and the sheriff's office to try juvenile drug smugglers as adults. The program drastically reduced the number of youth smugglers in Cochise County, Capas said.

"This border plan in Cochise County is a community-based border plan," said Dannels. "If it's working, lets take it beyond that. This credit goes to all layers of government.

"I couldn't do it without border patrol, our governor, and the community in this county."

Cochise County rancher John Ladd, whose property sits along the U.S.-Mexico border, said he was glad to hear that DHS had offered Dannels the appointment.

"I think that's really smart, to have Homeland Security finally figure out that a border sheriff understands what needs to happen," said Ladd, who also noted that he would like to see the federal government give local law enforcement more funds for border security. "Our sheriffs have done a whole lot in the county — and the prosecutors and the attorney — to step up and try to enforce the law."


Dannels said he looks forward to representing the interests of local communities and law enforcement as an adviser, by "having a voice at the table saying that you have to take care of our local governments that are working to make your communities safer."

While Dannels hasn't been officially appointed to the council yet, he has been endorsed by the National Sheriffs Association, the secretary of homeland security, and other sheriffs' coalitions.

He expects to receive a confirmation next week.

"I love serving Cochise County, and the best part of going to Washington, D.C. is coming back to where I live," said Dannels. "Community always comes first to me."

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