Trafficking is 0.37% of Coconino County Sheriff’s Office’s ALPR searches
A chief use of the 2025 Flock equipment contract that Cottonwood police cited to gain a $213,992.80 grant from the Arizona Department of Public Safety was to “enhance law enforcement services and programs that reduce human trafficking within the state.” Based on public records obtained from the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office’s Flock data, CPD has not used that county’s camera network for human trafficking interdiction.
The Cottonwood Police Department ran 649 searches of the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office’s license plate reader network in the first seven months of this year, 16 searches for sex crimes and four for kidnapping.
Camp Verde Marshal’s Office had 24 searches run of CCSO on its behalf by other departments.
Those were among 3,259,997 searches by 3,815 law enforcement agencies conducted from the start of 2026 through July 22 of CCSO’s network of 20 Flock Safety’s automated license plate readers, according to CCSO’s network audit logs obtained by Larson Newspapers through an information request.
Of CPD’s 649 searches, domestic assault made up 124, traffic infractions were 85, narcotics 77, vehicle theft 46, welfare checks 42, missing persons 42, warrants 36, hit-and-run 29, assault 24, larceny 19, stolen property 18, sex offenses 16, weapons 12, disorderly conduct 12, burglary 11, threats 10, trespass 10, protective order violations nine, DUI seven, kidnapping four, fleeing law enforcement three, homicide two and one each for stalking, robbery, obstructing justice, vandalism, financial crime and alcohol offenses.
On April 1, an officer ran 46 consecutive domestic assault searches between 10:48 and 11:15 a.m., none with a case number or written explanation. They account for a third of CPD’s domestic violence searches; without them, the category drops to second behind traffic infractions.
Human Trafficking
CPD installed its first four ALPRs in 2021. The most recent expansion came before council in June 2025 from the $213,992.80 grant from DPS to bolster anti-trafficking efforts.
Similarly the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office has been working to strengthen its own anti-trafficking efforts over the last several years through social media outreach and potential massive capital projects in the future through state appropriations.
The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors unanimously accepted $2 million in seed money to fund a future Criminal Information Intelligence Analysis Coordination Center for YCSO during its Nov. 5 meeting.
Across CCSO’s network, 12,163 searches — 0.37% of the 3,259,997 — cite human trafficking as a stated reason, which includes 9,526 searches when it was the sole category and 2,637 where it was one of several crimes.
The trafficking searches of CCSO’s network overwhelmingly came from agencies outside of Arizona. The Texas Department of Public Safety ran 3,356 and the Kansas Highway Patrol 2,165 — Arizona agencies accounted for 1,468, the third-largest.
Within Arizona, the category was led by the Benson Police Department with 426; DPS came next with 368; and then the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office with 284. Phoenix police ran 143. Payson police ran 36 and CCSO itself ran five.
Through July 22, no agency in the Verde Valley logged a human trafficking search, including YCSO.
The Prescott Police Department logged four, all in January and all reading “HT Investigation” — two on Jan. 7 at 2:23 and 2:25 p.m., and two on Jan. 9 at 5:25 and 5:29 p.m. All four carried case numbers.
Camp Verde Marshal’s Office
After securing a grant for four Motorola Mobile mobile automatic license plate readers in 2025 with the same capabilities as Flock’s stationary cameras, CVMO installed the units on some of its vehicles. That system operates independently of the Flock network. CVMO may request assistance from a partner agency when it wants information through Flock.
Two stationary Leonardo brand ALPRs cameras have been operated by CVMO at the intersection of Finnie Flat Road and Cliffs Parkway since early 2024.
“CVMO does not have a Flock account or direct access to the Flock platform through a task force, regional partnership, or another agency’s login,” CVMO Administrative Sgt. Dustin Richardson wrote. “When information available through the Flock network is needed, CVMO requests assistance from an agency that has authorized access to that system.”
Twenty CPD searches of CCSO’s network cited CVMO, and four Prescott police searches cited CVMO. Sixteen searches cited narcotics, four cited vehicle thefts, three were missing/endangered person related searches and one burglary.
Cottonwood Police Department did not turn over its Flock network audit logs to Larson Newspapers by deadline on Aug. 14, after a public records request was filed on July 17.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with more accurate information.
