Lyon County Sheriff’s Message of the Week on July 11, 2025

We are now two weeks away from the Night in the Country Music Festival. The Boys and Girls Club has asked the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office to lead the law enforcement response and presence at the Night in the County Music Festival. The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office agreed to lead the law enforcement effort at the event.

This is the second year at the new venue. From a law enforcement operations standpoint, the new venue has provided fewer challenges to an effective operations plan. The new venue makes the response of emergency personnel much more efficient and safer for attendees and emergency personnel. Planning for the event begins immediately following the event with a debrief on what went right, what went well, and areas that need improvement. The Boys and Girls Club of Mason Valley is a great law enforcement partner and works diligently to ensure the Night in the Country event is safe for all attendees.

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office NITC mission:

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office and all available assets within, will provide law enforcement protection, oversight, communications, and emergency response for all Sworn and Non-Sworn agency personnel, as well as citizens engaged in special event activity, and all professional personnel engaged in the event planning and performance. Lyon County Sheriff’s Office personnel will have the ability to appropriately respond to all threats that may possibly affect the event and the safety of the public.

I have seen the arguments for and against the Night in Country event. The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office, as an agency, does not take sides one way or another. Our function is to protect the public as the need arises during the event. This is best served by partnering with the Boys and Girls Club, and having a voice during the planning phase, and carrying out our mission, to ensure all safety precautions are made, and we are in a position to act accordingly.

Like last year, a full after-action report of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office will be released after the event.

Respectfully,

Sheriff Brad Pope

Pizen Switch Times asked Sheriff Pope: Do LCSO deputies & dispatchers receive payment from NITC to run security? Are deputies assigned or do they voluntarily work the NITC detail? Does NITC coverage deplete LCSO coverage in the rest of the county?

Sheriff Pope replied: “The Boys and Girls Club reimburses Lyon County a large portion of the cost to operate NITC from the Sheriff’s Office. NITC does not deplete the normal shift coverage for the rest of the county. Volunteers are taken, or assigned on an overtime basis, Deputies volunteer to work the over time shifts…”