On September 14 2010, Cottonwood Chief of Police Jody Fanning sent the Governor’s Office of Economic Recovery in Phoenix a request for funding to allow for the addition of two fully equipped patrol vehicles, complete with radar and an in-car camera system to record DUI stops and other traffic related activity. The estimated cost for the two vehicles is $60,000.

The 2010-2011 budget for the Cottonwood Police Department is $3,442,620, a 4.26% reduction over its prior budget. Due to capital budget reductions since 2008, the department has relied heavily on its fleet maintenance budget to keep its aging vehicles on the road, and has exceeded its first quarter 2010-2011 maintenance budget by 78%.

Fanning also requested funding from the Department of Economic Recovery to purchase AIMS accident diagramming equipment and software, equipment that will assist in the recording and diagramming of DUI accident scenes and /or crime scenes for documentation and future prosecution. AIMS equipment can readily translate complex accident scenes into usable information and allows for visually demonstrating a real life event.  The cost of the AIMS equipment and software is estimated at $10,400.

In recognition for outstanding efforts to protect the public from DUI drivers, Cottonwood police officer Cory Shilling was recognized by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in 2010 and Matthew Watson was recognized in 2009.