The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors unani­mously accepted $2 million in seed money to fund a future Criminal Information Intelligence Analysis Coordination Center for the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office during its Nov. 5 meeting.

The board accepted over $5 million in various appropriations, spending and donations to YCSO. The center’s seed money comes from Senate Bill 1735, part of Arizona’s $17.6 billion Fiscal Year 2026 budget that was signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs [D] on June 27.

The center will be “responsible for collecting, analyzing, synthesizing and disseminating real-time, actionable information and that is designed to interdict human trafficking and controlled substance trafficking conducted by international criminal cartels,” SB 1735 reads.

YCSO did not respond to multiple requests from the NEWS for the number of confirmed cartel-linked cases it has investigated each year for the past five years. YCSO also did not respond to multiple requests about the number of child sex trafficking victims the agency recovered during that period.

In August 2023, YCSO said it estimated there were 30 to 50 sex‑trafficking victims in Yavapai County, citing an unnamed Chandler Police Department undercover detective who had worked with YCSO and the Prescott Police Department.

The estimate accompanied YCSO’s announcement of its first human‑trafficking investigators and was based on online activity that the detective said he saw.

“While this is just the first installment of funding for the [center], rest assured that Yavapai [County] will emerge as a leader in the Southwest United States for intelligence that helps disrupt drug trafficking, child trafficking and human smuggling, making Yavapai a safer place for all who live here and visit,” Arizona State Sen. Mark Finchem [R-District 1] wrote to the board of supervisors on Nov. 4. He also cited a $500,000 appro­priation from SB 1735 for satellite communication equipment for YCSO vehicles that the board accepted during the meeting.

Where the center will be constructed, its staffing needs and a construction timeline and its formal name are all to be determined, according to YCSO Government & Public Affairs Director Megan Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald said that the center’s work will involve synthesizing intelligence bringing in raw data, having multiple analysts digest it and turning it into actionable leads “So that we can start to put together pieces that otherwise might be missed,” she said.

“We’re trying to figure out exactly what it’s going to look like and being able to make sure that we’re able to have a proof of concept and prove a successful concept that’s [going] to [allow us] to determine what the end result looks,” Fitzgerald said. “From there costs will come once we’re able to figure out and get on paper [a] finalized drawing and understanding of what that [center] can be and should be to be most effective.”

Surveillance

Finchem was champi­oning the center at the legis­lature and introduced it to Sedona constituents during a local event on April 18, comparing it to a “CIA targeting desk” to conduct real-time surveillance with license plate readers along Interstate 17.

Fitzgerald said “it would be inaccurate to convey [the center] as I-17 specific,” because several State Routes and I-40 are within the county.

“When we are able to capture information and build an intelligence profile, I hate to use the terminology, but it’s a bit like a CIA targeting desk,” Finchem said before the House Public Safety & Law Enforcement Committee on March 24 discussing Senate Bill 1497. “The minute you have got this body of information and you see a name, a license plate number, something come in that triggers awareness by a Crime Information Analysis Center, you are able to focus in on that thing and you do great damage to the [criminal] network … that is transporting every­thing from cash to drugs to children and adults for slavery.”

The Sedona City Council unanimously terminated its contract with ALPR company Flock Safety Inc. on Sept. 9, citing its concerns over civil liberties and the potential for federal agencies to access the data.

“At this point in our history, the only way for us to make sure that data is not broadly shared or abused is to not have any,” Councilwoman Melissa Dunn said. “So therefore, I agree. We need to cancel the contract. We need to remove the cameras.”

ALPRs

“I’m fully supportive of [YCSO] having as much information as they can, get their hands on to help solve crimes as soon as possible,” Yavapai County Supervisor Nikki Check [D-District 3] said on Nov. 5 prior to accepting the appropriation. “But an issue did arise in Sedona with [ALPRs]. The one concern I have is the possibility that nefarious or foreign entities could also be accessing this intelligence through a tech­nological backdoor.”

“My plan for preventing bad actors from accessing our intelligence is to partner with Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University and their cyber security team to advise and help us build the firewalls,” Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes [R] responded. “The situation with Flock and Sedona, I understand both sides of that. There’s an issue with the right to privacy … however, [ALPR] is an incredible tool that has helped solve some major crimes and put some bad people in jail.”

Supervisor Chris Kuknyo [R District 4] asked for a cost estimate of the center. Rhodes did not provide one, instead he outlined a funding approach dependent on grants, proof of concept first, adding that Finchem is committed for additional appropriations from the state for the center.

“We need to know that it’s worthwhile and adding value to the county before we even have that conver­sation,” Rhodes said.

“I think you’ve proven that it adds value,” Kuknyo said. “I look at it like I need a new set of tires, but I can’t afford a new set of tires. We just got to figure out how we’re going to make it all work and what we’re going to have to ask the public to support.”

Finchem cited the part­nership with ERAU as a training program to keep students in the county. The senator was also the prime sponsor of SB 1497, which failed in 2025, but aimed to appropriate $1 million to YCSO for such a center.

“At the current time, child trafficking … has now replaced drug trafficking as the most productive finan­cial business that the trans­national cartels are engaged in,” Finchem on March 24 claimed to before the House Committee of Public Safety and Law Enforcement, before giving an anecdotal story from Dec. 4, 2024, about Prescott Valley Police Department seizing 25,000 fentanyl pills along with cell phones with possible evidence of criminal activity that such a center could turn into actionable intelligence.

No reported victims of child trafficking were cited by Finchem during his testimony, nor were any mentioned by PVPD announcing the seizure.

If completed, YCSO’s center would join Arizona’s existing network of intel­ligence hubs, including the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center in Maricopa County and the Oletski Border Operations Center in Cochise County, which focuses on border-related issues. The YCSO center is intended to serve communities north of New River and connect with the two current facilities.

“Upon maturity, the Department of Homeland Security at the federal level might want to join this [center], but I would not want to speak for them,” Finchem said on March 24. “I think part of that has to do with do we stand up an organization that it’s worth their time and their expense?”