National Expansion
While rooted in Arizona, Operation Guardian is scaling nationwide with a regional model that combines local partnerships with centralized expertise and assets.
This ensures every dollar, every in-kind donation, and every volunteer hour translates directly into safer local communities.
Operation Guardian is unique because it is not just raising awareness. It is taking action. By delivering special operations expertise, advanced technology, and real-time support to law enforcement, we are directly removing predators, preventing future crimes, and creating safer communities.
Few nonprofits can claim that level of immediate, measurable impact.
Immediate & Measurable Impact
Funding Requirements Summary
Your Investment Creates Direct Impact
At Operation Guardian, a frontline initiative of Darkhorse Benefits, every dollar and every donated asset has a clear, measurable purpose. We are proud to operate under a fiscally responsible 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that holds GuideStar’s Platinum Seal of Transparency, a distinction earned by fewer than 1% of nonprofits nationwide.
$785,000 Annual National Staff Expenses
By funding these positions, you are not just paying salaries. You are directly equipping the national backbone of Operation Guardian.
This team makes every mission safer, every arrest possible, and every dollar accountable. Without them, we cannot expand beyond Arizona or deliver the scale of protection that America’s children deserve.
National Director (Senior Law Enforcement Official): Provides credibility, oversight, and national-level coordination with federal, state, and local agencies. This leader ensures every mission is legally compliant, strategically aligned, and impactful.
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National Intelligence Analyst: Delivers real-time analysis of open-source and mission-specific intelligence, helping law enforcement stay one step ahead of predators. This role ensures agencies have the insights they need to act swiftly and decisively.
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National Instructor (Retired Federal Task Force Officer): Brings decades of experience training officers nationwide, building sustainable law enforcement capacity in tactical medicine, counter-trafficking operations, and mission planning.
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Communications & Tech Analyst (Ethical Hacker / ATAK Server Administrator): Manages the secure, encrypted systems that make real-time coordination possible across agencies. This role ensures sensitive data and communications are protected, reliable, and accessible during critical missions.
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Dedicated Administrator & Bookkeeper: Provides the backbone of accountability ensuring donor dollars are used wisely, transparently, and with maximum impact.
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General and Administrative: Rent, insurance, minimal advertising expense, etc.
$81,000 Annual Software Expenses
Annual licensing and upkeep costs for these tools are significant, but they directly translate into arrests made, children rescued, and prosecutions secured.
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When you fund this area of Operation Guardian, you are not buying software, you are buying speed, accuracy, and justice.
You are helping us give law enforcement the tools they need to outsmart predators who exploit the digital world to harm children.
This technology is mission-critical. Without it, many of the predators we help identify would remain invisible, their crimes undiscovered and unpunished.
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Protecting children from predators requires more than courage and manpower. It demands specialized technology that gives law enforcement the edge against criminals who hide behind screens, encryption, and digital anonymity.
To support law enforcement effectively, Operation Guardian maintains access to cutting-edge investigative and forensic software that most agencies cannot afford on their own.
These tools are not household names, and for security reasons we do not disclose them publicly - but here’s what they allow us to do:
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$12,000 Locate and Identify Predators: Accessing vast and complex databases to confirm identities, trace assets, and uncover hidden connections.
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$22,000 Uncover Digital Footprints: Monitoring open-source and online networks to identify patterns of behavior, map criminal networks, and track activity across hundreds of platforms.
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$27,000 Extract and Analyze Digital Evidence: Legally unlocking encrypted devices and recovering data that would otherwise remain hidden—evidence critical to securing convictions.
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$20,000 Training and Support of National and Regional Staff: Giving Operation Guardian staff the ability to master access to information quickly, legally, and accurately so they can build stronger cases against offenders.
$470,000 Regional Startup Expenses
Your investment in these regional startup costs is what turns a plan into action.
Without them, Operation Guardian cannot establish a permanent footprint in new areas. With them, each region is immediately operational, equipped to support law enforcement, and capable of making a measurable impact in protecting children.
By funding these startup costs, you are not just helping us open a new region, you are directly enabling arrests, saving children, and creating safer communities.
These are not recurring annual costs. These are foundational, one-time startup expenses that ensure each region is fully equipped to disrupt predators and protect children from day one.
Key annual investments include:
$10,000 Training for Intel Analysts – Preparing regional intelligence staff to deliver real-time analysis and actionable insights that law enforcement can trust in the field.
$120,000 Regional Lead (Director) – Each region is anchored by a fully badged, trained, and certified law enforcement leader who ensures missions are legally compliant and effectively coordinated.
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Key one-time investments include:
$105,000 Forensic Digital Analysis – Dedicated equipment and expertise to handle the surge of digital evidence, allowing law enforcement to move faster on cases and secure more convictions.
$125,000 Reconnaissance (RECCE) Van – A mobile operations hub equipped with surveillance sensors, thermal imaging, secure communications, and command capabilities. This vehicle serves as the “eyes and ears” of regional operations.
$60,000 Night-Thermal Drones – Silent, mobile, and precise aerial platforms for covert surveillance and evidence collection.
$32,000 Protective Gear (Plate Carriers & Ballistics) – Ensuring the safety of all personnel and volunteers operating alongside law enforcement.
$3,000 Starlink Communications – Secure satellite-based internet to maintain uninterrupted data and video feeds, even in remote or contested environments.
$3,000 Tactical Operations Center Equipment – Audio-visual systems to brief, monitor, and coordinate missions with law enforcement partners in real time.
$2,000 Uniforms & Identification – Professional, consistent gear to integrate seamlessly with law enforcement during joint operations.
$8,000 Ground Surveillance Cameras & Concealment Kits – Tools to capture evidence discreetly and maintain situational awareness across target areas.
$1,500 Sterile Laptops (as needed) – Secure, mission-dedicated devices that can also be handed over to district attorneys to support prosecutions.
$46,000 Cost per Mission Expenses
Funding a mission means more than underwriting equipment. It means directly enabling arrests, safeguarding victims, and empowering law enforcement with resources they otherwise could not access.
Each mission represents a complete package of manpower, technology, aviation, and intelligence that together deliver immediate, measurable results.
When you invest in mission funding, you are not only covering costs, you are buying impact: predators identified, children protected, and communities made safer.
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Software acquired by donated funds accompanies law enforcement training and certification or use by certified law enforcement officers.
Each Operation Guardian mission is a precision-planned, joint operation with law enforcement. To be successful, these missions require specialized personnel, advanced aviation and surveillance systems, and critical logistical support.
Our goal is to conduct 12-18 missions per region each year which would be a consistent, proactive cadence that removes predators from communities before they can strike again.
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Key costs per mission are:
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$13,000 Each mission includes highly trained independent contractors working side-by-side with law enforcement: Law Enforcement Liaison, On-Site Intelligence Analysts, Drone Teams, ISR Pilot (Manned Aircraft): Flying the Operation Guardian Cessna 182, Communications Specialists, Certified Mission Administrator, Law Enforcement Chatter Operators.
$9,000 Travel & Logistics: Covering airfare, lodging, meals, and transportation for all mission participants. These are essential to staging operations across diverse urban and rural areas.
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$2,000 Aviation Support: Operation Guardian’s Cessna 182 ISR aircraft—equipped with a Trillium HD80 thermal/electro-optic sensor—streams military-grade video and intelligence through secure ATAK systems. Support includes pilots, maintenance, GoTak servers, Blue Force Tracking, and live data integration across mission participants.
$16,000 Equipment & Training: Heavy and light equipment, trailers, tools, and communications towers to establish Tactical Operations Centers. Specialized intel packages tailored to the mission’s geographic and target profile. Realistic Military Training (RMT) pre-deployment preparation to ensure personnel and law enforcement partners are fully prepared for the operation.
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$6,000 Additional Training: designed to enhance law enforcement's continuing counter human trafficking missions after our mission has been completed. This includes NAEMT TECC medical certifications, counter pedophile specific training by nationally certified law enforcement instructors, tactical, drone, communications, surveillance and other training skills that supports local law enforcement's fight against human trafficking.
Darkhorse Benefits and Operation Guardian Partners
