Carson City Sheriff gets grant for gang program

The Carson City Board of Supervisors accepted a $350,000 grant for the Carson City Sheriff's Office to form a Regional Gang Initiative to more effectively combat gangs in the tri-county area.

"The gang population is up in all our counties, but what we've found is that gangs are transient," Sheriff Ken Furlong said.

Carson City will be the pilot agency, he said, with one gang officer each from Carson City and Douglas and Lyon counties, as well as one support staff from Carson City.

One of the main objectives will be intelligence sharing through a program called GangNet, which is currently in use in Washoe and Clark counties, Furlong said.

Other objectives include coordinating gang-suppression efforts and promoting a zero-tolerance policy throughout the region. Sheriffs Ron Pierini from Douglas County and Allen Veil from Lyon County are in complete support of the effort, Furlong said.

Supervisor Shelly Aldean said she expected the sheriff to be back to request more funding in a year, after the grant expired.

"The key message from Salinas (Calif. gang units during a recent gang workshop) was to sustain the effort," Aldean said. "One of the missteps of Salinas was in not following through."

Furlong said it was imperative that the agencies work together.

"Our county lines are just too small," he said.

Supervisor Pete Livermore wondered whether Storey County should be included in the initiative but Furlong said they hadn't expressed an interest.

Mayor Bob Crowell thought it would be a good policy to publicly name gang members who had been identified as such through the court system.

In other action, the board of supervisors:

• Gave final approval to an amendment to an animal ordinance putting controls on feeding bears and the consequences of leaving garbage out in such a manner that bears are attracted.

• Gave approval to Carson City Health & Human Services to serve as one of 30 nationally to participate in a beta test site for the Public Health Accreditation Board.

• Heard details of a change to the liquor license ordinance which deals, among other things, with requiring all liquor license holders to maintain an alcohol training program.

• Appointed three members-at-large to the Audit Committee. John McKenna and William Prowse will serve a term through December 2010 and Yerania (Yette) Martell-DeLuca will serve through the end of December 2009.

• Heard a report from the Nevada Association of Counties Executive Director Jeff Fontaine and NACO President Bonnie Weber.

• Approved a liquor license for Balwinder Thind as liquor manager for Royal Food Mart, 1718 N. Carson St.

• Issued a proclamation for National Friends of Libraries Week, Oct. 18-24.

• Issued a proclamation declaring October as Community Planning Month.

• Joined in a community covenant supporting those who serve their communities.

• Issued proclamations of appreciation to local representatives Sen. Mark Amodei, Sen. Ralph Townsend and Assemblyman Tom Grady.