CBS 5 - KPHO Law enforcement at border fence meeting: We need helicopters!

It wasn't supposed to happen this way.

The meeting was supposed to focus on a new state-sponsored border fence. Instead, law enforcement officers from the state and county levels wanted to talk about their need for air support.

"If I were to have to say the biggest problem in doing what we need to do logistically, it is a lack of air assets," said Chief Deputy Steve Henry from the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.

Henry was standing in for Sheriff Paul Babeu, who is a newly appointed member of the Joint Border Security Advisory Committee. The committee's main role will be to dole out money donated for a new fence along the Arizona Mexico border.

Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Robert Halliday echoed the Pinal County complaint. He complained that his agency has helicopters sitting on the ground because of budget cuts.

The author of the bill that created the border fence fund reported that the effort had raised more than $100,000 in one week. Donations are coming in from every state in the country, according to state leaders.

"You know, I think we're right on pace. We just have to continue to get the word out," said State Senator Steve Smith, a Republican from Maricopa.

Smith said once the fund reaches $2 to $3 million, the committee will begin serious discussions about where to begin the project and what type of fencing materials to use.

But the input from law enforcement today, along with the language on the forms which donors sign when they send money, combined to raise questions about whether the money raised will actually go toward a new fence, or be spent on other border-related projects.

The donation form reads, "I authorize the Joint Border Security Advisory Committee to determine the best use of this donation..."

Today, at least, the law officers appeared to be arguing that the best use would be a helicopter in the air, rather than a fence on the ground.

Copyright 2011 KPHO. All rights reserved.