BP and Cocopah Nation host training conference

The U.S. Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector and the Cocopah Indian Nation co-sponsored a three-day national multi-agency gang awareness training conference earlier this week.

Also co-sponsoring the annual Operation Safe Streets conference were the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Arizona Gang Intelligence Immigration Team Enforcement Mission (GIITEM) task force.

Over 250 law enforcement officers from 44 municipal, tribal, state and federal law enforcement agencies attended.

The training focused on countering the growing street gang problem by bringing together the law enforcement personnel involved in arresting, interviewing and investigating members of such organizations.

It also educated the attendees in the identification of both local and transnational prison and street gangs in the interest of creating an atmosphere in which personnel could network with other law enforcement contacts.

Gang experts from across the country were featured at the conference, held at the Cocopah Resort and Casino from Monday to Wednesday.

Keynote speaker was investigative reporter Chris Blatchford, author of the authorized gang biography “The Black Hand.”

Joining him were retired Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agent William Queen, author of “Under and Alone”; FBI Senior Special Agent Robert E. Bornstein; retired Los Angeles Police Department Gang Detective Tony Moreno; retired California Department of Corrections Special Agent Leo Duarte; and Chuck Schoville of the Rocky Mountain Intelligence Network.

Also attending were California Department of Justice Special Agent Steve Duncan; Yuma Police Department Gang Task Force Detective Robbie Rosas; Arizona Department of Public Safety Detective Eddie Aulds, GIITEM Yuma; and DPS Detective Michelle Vasey, GIITEM Phoenix.

Conference participants also contributed a toy drive, collecting over 200 stuffed animal toys to be donated to local children’s charities.

"The Cocopah Tribe is pleased to once again co-sponsor and host this important training conference,” said James Spurgeon, chief of the Cocopah Tribal Police Department.

"We are proud to host law enforcement officers from seven states and over 44 different agencies. This training illustrates the Cocopah Tribe's ongoing commitment to interagency cooperation and combating violent crime in our communities."

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.