In Arizona an unsettling trend appears to be underway: the use of private prison employees in law enforcement operations.

... [R]ecent events in the central Arizona town of Casa Grande show the hand of private corrections corporations reaching into the classroom, assisting local law enforcement agencies in drug raids at public schools.

At 9 a.m. on the morning of October 31, 2012... ...Vista Grande High School Principal Tim Hamilton ordered the school -- with a student population of 1,776 -- on "lock down," kicking off the first "drug sweep" in the school's four-year history.

According to Casa Grande Police Department (CGPD) Public Information Officer Thomas Anderson, four "law enforcement agencies" took part in the operation: CGPD (which served as the lead agency and operation coordinator), the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Gila River Indian Community Police Department, and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).

According to Officer Anderson and Principal Hamilton, the raid was organized and conducted at Hamilton's request.