Lyon County Sheriff Pope’s Message of the Week : October 6th, 2023

In a past message of the week, when I was a candidate for Sheriff in August of 2022, I made the below statement.

“Transparency is a Sheriff’s Office obligation to share information with Citizens it serves. From this information the Citizens can make informed decisions and if need be, hold the Sheriff accountable for the conduct of his agency.”

Looking back on it, the grammar I used was not the best, however I stand by those words.

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office has strived to increase transparency with the communities we serve.

Transparency means not only sharing the positive accomplishments of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office, but also sharing our mistakes and short comings. Last week we had an in-custody suspect escape through an unsecured door at the Fernley substation. While we all knew this event would be embarrassing to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office, there was no question on what to do, we immediately notified the public of our mistake.

Like we expected we were ridiculed, made fun of etc. (Some of the memes were pretty good) However we also received a lot of support from members of the community that were understanding, and thanked us for our transparency. We make mistakes, we own them, learn from them, and ensure that we perform better next time. We are working around the clock to bring that inmate back to justice.

“Public scrutiny should not be something a Sheriff needs to be afraid of.”

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office has been accessible by the public and that has allowed the Sheriff’s Office to be more responsive to community needs. I firmly believe having a well-informed community builds greater confidence in the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office abilities. The transparency of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office strengthens the trust between Sheriff’s Office, local governments and the communities we serve.

In closing, some critics will always jump on the information we release that is unfavorable to the Sheriff’s Office. I believe that presenting the bigger picture and being transparent with the community has an overall positive effect, and helps build a true partnership between the community and law enforcement.

Sheriff Brad Pope