SAFFORD — A hefty grant is coming to Graham County from the state, thanks to the Sheriff’s Office.
On Monday, the Graham County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved acceptance of a $3.1 million grant from the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs to fund a number of purchases and system upgrades, including implementation of a digital communications system.
“So this benefits every agency, Fire Departments, as well as Lifeline,” said Undersheriff Jeff McCormies. “They’ll have the opportunity to have better communication with us, and us with them.”
The Sheriff’s Office will use some of the money for license-plate readers — which McCormies said, “Is not photo radar.” — which will help when attempting to locate a specific vehicle, such as in the case of Amber and Silver alerts. And the Sheriff’s Office will purchase a new vehicle.
“Much of that, we were planning on spending other money on to do, so that’s great,” said Supervisor Danny Smith. “The license plate thing, leaving the county line, kind of ruins half of every country song that talks about just going over the county line.”
