Phoenix Police Department

Police Chief Jeri Williams

Amid state and national conversations about both school safety and cybersecurity, a group of Arizona law enforcement leaders gathered to say: we’re hiring! Intelligence analysts are needed to fight crime, officials said at a Monday press conference, and they pointed to a career fair this weekend.

“We’re building and growing the people who can take the data and analyze the data to prepare it for the officers to give to the County Attorney,” said Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams.

Frank Milstead, director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said there aren’t enough cyber experts to fill the need.

“There’s obviously a pull into the private sector, which normally has a better pay scale than the government sector,” he said. “What we want to do is take young, would-be hackers and turn them into young, would-be investigators.”

Milstead said the lack of cyber intelligence analysts was a topic of conversation when he visited FBI headquarters a couple of weeks ago.

Would-be investigators can attend a career fair this weekend at Northern Arizona University’s north Valley campus.

The conversation expanded to include Governor Ducey’s new  School Safety Plan. Officials are asking the public for help in stopping school shootings before they happen. Any tip, Williams said, is a tip they can use.