Yuma Police, Sheriff's Office Receive DPS Grants for Border and Anti-Human Trafficking

The Yuma Police Department is set to enter two grant agreements with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, one to enhance local border support and another to bolster anti-human trafficking services, while the Yuma County Board of Supervisors approved a DPS grant of over a million dollars to the Yuma County Sheriff's Office, county records show. The two-agreement notice for Yuma PD did not include dollar figures in the announcement, and the sheriff’s office award was described as "over a million dollars" in the Board action.

Arizona Department of Public Safety award listings provide concrete figures for Yuma PD: SFY 2024 shows an award amount of $364,100 with $330,543.44 expended, and SFY 2025 lists $135,900 with $0 expended. The DPS grant documentation names Daniele Casper as Grant Project Manager and includes program-level reporting and allowable-cost guidance that applies to those awards.

Board comments and county messaging framed the sheriff’s office funding as focused on drug trafficking, human smuggling and illegal immigration. Yuma County Supervisor Darren Simmons, District 3, said, "Anything we can do to stop the flow of illegals coming across. The drugs that come across also," and county officials described the funding as supporting border operations and community safety.

State legislative appropriations supply the broader funding context for DPS grants. Arizona Legislature budget language for FY 2026 lists Local Border Support Funding at $5,000,000, an Anti-Human Trafficking Fund Deposit at $1,600,000, and a one-time ACTIC funding increase of $1,500,000 with a legislative requirement that $1,500,000 of a $3,632,700 ACTIC appropriation be used for anti-human trafficking efforts. The FY 2026 language also designates $750,000 for a Yuma County family advocacy center, conditioned on at least 25 years of service supporting domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and elderly abuse.

The DPS grant funding comes with explicit allowable uses and compliance timelines. The DPS guidance lists personnel and fringe benefits, travel at state reimbursement rates (SAAM 5095), equipment purchases of $5,000 or more, supplies under $5,000 including laptops and radios, contractual services with a not-more-than 10 percent indirect cost allowance for nonprofit partnerships, training and outreach, and other operational costs. Quarterly program activity and financial reports are due Oct 15, Jan 15, Apr 15 and July 15, with a "Final Reimbursement Request due 30 days following the period of performance."

Gaps remain in the public record: the Yuma PD notice announcing two grant agreements did not specify award amounts or period-of-performance dates, the YCSO "over a million dollars" figure lacks an exact dollar amount in the Board file excerpt, and the DPS award listing does not explicitly map the Yuma PD SFY awards to the border support and anti-human trafficking purposes described in the departmental notice. Daniele Casper, Yuma PD, Yuma County Sheriff's Office leadership, and the Yuma County Board of Supervisors are identified contacts in the records for obtaining award letters, contract numbers and the detailed scopes of work for each grant.