Carson Sheriff Ken Furlong: Gang unit cash in jeopardy

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong had nothing but praise for his department's gang enforcement unit, dubbed the sheriff's own "men in black" for their distinctive garb, and a unit that's completely reliant on non-city cash.

Before a three-county initiative to fight gang activity was started with Lyon and Douglas counties, Furlong described a Carson City with frequent shootouts and filled with gang members fearless about leaping over counters to rob clerks.

"It got to the point where we were told by the press that '(the press) can't keep up with all the violence that's happening in this city,'" Furlong said Friday during the Chamber of Commerce-hosted State of the City event.

Then the federal government gave the department a $350,000 grant to pay for the unit - a grant that Furlong worries won't be as available in the future, he said.

"The instances of gang activity in this region has diminished considerably - but notice that I did not say they have gone away," Furlong said. "We have taken the fight against gangs in this town, and there is no tolerance whatsoever. Zero."

The unit still is almost completely grant-funded, even if the amount of money has been diminishing since the original offering. That means it doesn't strain the city's purse - but at the cost of giving those in Washington, D.C., have more control.

"That's a dangerous position to be in, that somebody so far away may pull the strings on the money of what I consider to be one of the most successful model programs we have ever run," Furlong said.

He said he's watched grants all over the country dry up as the federal government faces its own financial struggles. It's a similar story in Carson City - there's simply not money available that he could even request from the general fund, he said. Furlong said that leaves his department with two options: Hope for the grant to at least remain at the status quo, or seek another source of funding. He said the grant application is due in about five weeks and his department is working on it now. The results should be known during the summer, he said.

"If the grants run dry, as we're seeing across the country ... it jeopardizes our ability to field our unit," he said.

Without the unit in the field, seeking out gang members instead of only reacting to major crimes, there is a real danger of the numbers rising back up, Furlong said.

Also at Friday's event, Furlong said the department will be soon retiring one of its K-9 units. Just recently, the police dog named Teddy helped locate 16 pounds of marijuana that would not have been found otherwise, as well as half a pound of methamphetamine.

The K-9 units aren't paid for through the general fund, making the sheriff's department reliant on donations to pay for the dogs.