Last Tuesday, Gila County Sheriff’s Reserve Posse Commander Guy Peterson accepted a $16,000 check from the Gila County Board of Supervisors to purchase new 800 MHz radios for the Reserve Posse and Gila County Search and Rescue.
In an Aug. 5, 2024 letter to County Supervisor Tim Humphrey, Peterson wrote that, since the Gila County Sheriff’s Office, Globe Police Department and Globe Fire Department have switched over to new 800 MHz radios, the Reserve Posse and Search and Rescue would need to update their own communication systems.
The funds will be used to buy 16 Kenwood NX-5400K2 800 MHz analog/multi-protocol digital portable radios, along with programming and system activations. Peterson wrote that they would allow both organizations to “obtain the most current information for any scenario they are assisting with.” He told the Copper Country news that the radios “are above a lot of scanners.”
Posse members aid in evacuations during natural disasters, conduct patrol operations for community events, and provide security at high-risk jury trials and such events as the Gila County Fair and Globe’s First Friday. Search and Rescue works with law enforcement and emergency responders to find those who are lost or injured in the wilderness or have wandered away from home.
In 2022, the Reserve Posse conducted 1,523 missions totaling 7,059 man-hours; Search and Rescue conducted six missions for a total of 2,155 man-hours. There are now a dozen Posse members and 13 Search and Rescue members. Their missions can range down to Winkelman, over to San Carlos and as far north as Young, though they have also assisted with operations in the Four Peaks area.
Peterson, a native of Globe, told the Copper Country News he puts in around 1,000 volunteer hours a year. “I like doing it. I do it because it’s somebody waiting for help.”
A retired firefighter – he was there, with Canyon Fire District, when the Dominion Hotel in Globe burned down – Peterson also knows every Forest Service road number by heart. It’s knowledge that comes in handy not only for rescues, but sometimes for lighter situations. That was the case when, by phone, he helped a delivery driver in northern Gila County find the address where they were delivering flowers on Valentine’s Day.
In other cases, the outcome is much grimmer. Peterson said they have recovered the bodies of people who fell down mine shafts, and he was part of last year’s search for a missing hiker at Round Mountain Park, who was found deceased.
Peterson also said he likes tracking lost people, especially by night using a flashlight. He recalled one successful rescue where he tracked a lost woman by only an emblem in the tread of her slippers.
In his letter to Humphrey, Peterson noted that the Sheriff’s Reserve Posse and Search and Rescue are primarily funded through providing security at private or community events and donations from a variety of organizations.
