Sheriff Pope’s Message of the Week ~ May 5, 2023

It’s Police Week! I want to thank every law enforcement officer across the nation for accepting the call to service, and placing themselves on the front lines of the battle between good and evil.

Yesterday in Carson City, the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office participated in the annual memorial for Fallen Officers in the State of Nevada. These Officers made the ultimate sacrifice. Family members, friends, colleagues, politicians and the public were present to show their support and appreciation for those that have fallen in the line of duty. It is a somber event that reminds the community, and officers the dangers law enforcement faces on a day to day basis, and yet they still answer the daily call to face danger in the performance of their duties. When you see a law enforcement officer in public please thank them for their service.

I have attached our monthly response times to this message as well. The response times are the running average from January 1st to April 30th. Also included for comparison are the 2022 response times. WE continue to drastically improve our response times.

Our response times to continue to improve as the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office becomes more efficient with the allocated resources, and time management. There are a few anomalies one requires explanation:

The priority one calls in Fernley show a two-minute increase. I investigated the response time call breakdown and learned that 15 priority one calls that “toned out” the fire department were added to our sheet. These calls had added an average of a 15 minute response time to the call. (The fire department response times are not the same, they are lower). These are calls that the Fernley Deputies do not need to respond to, however their average remains in this reporting, removing those calls should put the average in line with previous months.

We currently have 10 Deputies in the field training program. These Deputies are on schedule to fill positions very soon. We also have several applicants in the hiring stages that will begin their field training soon. Several of these Deputies are Category 1 Deputies from other departments who have “lateral transferred” to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office. We are anticipating adding 14 Deputies to the patrol division before the middle of June.

The influx of Deputies to the Patrol Division will help maintain or reduce these response times as the summer rush approaches.

On May 1st, the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office began operating with a full time coroner position. Deputy Mendoza has taken that role. The full time Coroner will relieve Patrol Deputies from the time consuming coroner calls and place them back on the streets exponentially faster. We are looking forward to seeing the results of this program and providing improved service to the public, Medical Examiner’s Office and the funeral homes.

I can’t say this enough, the Deputies of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office are working harder than ever before. I am proud to be their Sheriff. Every event I attend, or being approached in public, I am told over and over what a fantastic job the Deputies are doing, and that never gets old. The Deputies of this agency have stepped up their efforts significantly and it’s being noticed throughout the region. Thank you Lyon County Deputies for your continued hard work and dedication.