Carson No. 1 in underage drinking enforcement nationwide

The Carson City Sheriff's Office received recognition last weekend in Dallas as Agency of the Year out of 87 national applicants for its underage drinking law enforcement efforts, said Sheriff Kenny Furlong.

"Carson City was No. 1 in the nation," Furlong told the Carson City Board of Supervisors Thursday, "and in this community, that means partnerships."

The award, presented by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice, was accepted by Undersheriff Steve Albertsen, Detective Daniel Gonzales and Deputy Sal Acosta.

The sheriff said the award would not have been possible without the partnerships that have been forged, beginning with the board of supervisors acting as the liquor board, Carson City business licensing, officers and businesses that actively worked to prevent alcohol sales to minors.

Carson City's high school youth-at-risk data provided by the Nevada Department of Education showed significant change from 2001 to 2007, he said.

Of the 12 criteria studied, the most critical, Furlong said, was the perception by students that their parents or guardians would approve of or not care if they attended a party where alcoholic beverages were available.

The number of students who thought their parents were OK with that behavior dropped from 23.8 percent in 2001 to 13.5 percent in 2007.

The biggest change, however, according to the report, was whether students had consumed their first drink of alcohol before the age of 13. That number dropped from 67.3 percent in 2001 to 23.6 percent in 2007.

Star Anderson and Alex Canas of the Carson City Nugget represented the business partnership at the Dallas convention, Furlong said.

Anderson told supervisors Thursday that the Nugget initially got off on the wrong foot, but that they had "worked very hard" to turn things around.

"We have new buttons that say, 'We Card, We Care,'" Anderson said.

Each year, the Office of Juvenile Justice spreads $17.5 million among the states to enforce underage drinking laws. Nevada's share of that is $350,000, Furlong said, Carson City's share $15,000.

"Locally, that funding is used with one single objective," he said, "to prevent the tragic loss of a single juvenile to an alcohol-related incident."

Furlong also praised the involvement of the community volunteer board, the District Attorney's Office, the courts and the Juvenile Probation Office.