The Carson City Sheriff’s Office is partnering with the Carson City Chamber of Commerce to form a Community Business Crime Prevention Coalition to provide businesses, such as Comma Coffee or the Fox Brewpub seen along Carson Street, with information about crime trends and training.
Photo by Jessica Garcia.
The Carson City Sheriff’s Office and the Carson City Chamber of Commerce are joining to form a Community Business Crime Prevention Coalition to provide members with information on crime trends, training and prevention.
Sgt. Brett Bindley, CCSO criminal investigations bureau supervisor, is leading the effort and reached out to Chamber executive director Ronni Hannaman to solidify the coalition.
“If they do business in Carson, we’re interested in having them,” Bindley said.
The CCSO long has supported Carson’s businesses when they’ve experienced issues with crime, Hannaman said. For members, it made sense to create a more formal communications approach with law enforcement and be informed criminal activities in the workplace.
Most business owners or employees prefer to avoid any altercation or are unsure of what to do in a dangerous situation or after the fact, Hannaman said.
“When you read the sheriff’s blog, there’s always something about theft,” she said. “In that vein, it’s really intimidating for businesses to try to have to deal with the perpetrator directly, so I think this outreach they’re doing is wonderful.”
Information from the CCSO will better inform them on taking the right approach through the data and training, Bindley said. It also helps to bring together the community.
Bindley added it will be useful for similar businesses experiencing common trends to understand loss prevention or asset protection.
“If there’s a fraud scheme or certain type of retail theft where perpetrators are targeting certain stores, when (businesses) do have to report a crime, the most efficient ways to do that from being victims of a crime are to give them a common space of asking for information from their law enforcement officers and to share information with each other,” Bindley said. “If Home Depot is getting a certain theft trend, they can share it with Lowe’s.”
Hannaman looked forward to seeing the alliance between the sheriff’s office and the Chamber evolve as the effort grows and more members express interest in joining.
“It will evolve, and I think it’s a good thing,” she said. “(Sheriff) Kenny Furlong and his staff tend to be on the cutting edge. Many of the deputies have through Leadership Carson City. They are very aware of Carson City’s outreach opportunities, so they understand the community.”
Bindley said his team will reach out by going door to door and offering invitations, but anyone can join the Crime Prevention Coalition by emailing rtic@carson.org or calling 775-283-7971. The Chamber also will send out information through its regular e-mail communications, Hannaman said.