January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009

"Diligent, Honorable, and Steadfast for our Community"

To the Citizens of Humboldt County:

Where do they go? Yet another year in the history books and, as with the last two years, another successful and productive one. It was a year marked by more forward momentum toward our corporate goal of making the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office a model agency among Nevada’s more rural counties. This has been the driving force for the first and second years of my term and continues through this, the end of the third year. This was another year of progressive training for our staff, and a year of acquiring better and more up-to-date equipment. It was also a year of beginnings and endings.

Toward the first part of 2009, our agency received, at no cost to the taxpayers of Humboldt County, the first drug detection dog that this department has had in some time. "Lily”, a three-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever was gifted to our agency by the Elko Police Department.  I chose veteran law enforcement officer Cory Allen to be our department’s K-9 handler and "Lily’s” new partner.  Deputy Allen was sent to an extensive training course to become certified as a drug detection dog handler and then hit the streets with his new partner.  Deputy Allen and "Lily” spent the remainder of the year very involved with trying to locate and seize illegal drugs from our streets.  This crime fighting pair has also conducted numerous community presentations and has assisted other law enforcement agencies in the area with some of their individual drug investigations.

On the topic of new programs, I had Undersheriff Curtiss Kull organize, institute, and lead what we call our "Critical Incident Negotiations Team”.   This team is composed of the Undersheriff and four of our personnel. Their function is to utilize their advanced training to attempt to diffuse serious confrontations in which our deputies may find themselves involved. Teams of this nature are traditionally utilized as Hostage Negotiators during an armed stand-off.  They are also used to help calm and hopefully re-focus persons who may find themselves in situations where suicide has become an option.  In fact, our office attended and sponsored an in-depth training course this year on Suicide Prevention.  This is, hopefully, a special unit that will not have to be activated with any great frequency, but it is a team that, if needed, will be ready for the task.

In April of this year, our agency learned that we were to be the recipients of a financial award from the President’s Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office was to be awarded $29,792.  Since this amount was not enough to employ additional personnel for any length of time, I decided to use these funds for equipment needs of our department.   One of these needs has to do with the Critical Incident Team I mentioned above.  We will be purchasing a very necessary piece of equipment that negotiators use to establish communications with those persons who may be barricaded in a location.  This equipment will, hopefully, help to insure a safer conclusion to these types of critical situations.

The second purchase that we will be making with these funds has to do with my continued effort to combat the drug problem in Humboldt County.  Throughout the West, law enforcement has noticed a marked increase in illegal outdoor "marijuana grows”.  In many of these cases, the persons found to be tending these "grows” are heavily armed and have been very confrontational with both citizens and law enforcement who may inadvertently stumble upon their illegal gardens. In fact, in Humboldt County, we experienced just such an incident in October 2008 when three BLM employees were held at gunpoint by suspects who were tending a "grow” in the Greely Crossing area.  In an effort to locate these isolated gardens, I have ordered two specially equipped off-road law enforcement motorcycles.  I will be assigning members of the department to aggressively seek out these potentially dangerous locations and to make arrests and seize contraband.  Equipped with these bikes, deputies will be able to access and patrol areas of our very expansive county that our standard patrol vehicles cannot.

The next project we have going for this year is one we have wanted to start since the Thomas Fire of July 2007.  During that event, we learned how important it is to get urgent messages out to the public regarding evacuations and other emergency instructions.  After the fire, we started exploring different emergency notification systems to find one that would work for Humboldt County.  We chose a system called CityWatch through which we will be able to deliver a pre-recorded message to a specific area within the county.  This will increase our capabilities to immediately get the word out to the public.  We have been working with representatives at AT&T to get some necessary phone upgrades in before we go on line with the CityWatch system.

Also this year, we were able to purchase the last few vehicles needed to completely update our patrol fleet.  Our line deputies are now equipped with vehicles which will insure their safe and quick arrivals at emergency calls throughout the county.  In regard to updated equipment, our department was gifted new Garmin GPS devices from the railroad police which we issued to our patrol staff.  Union Township Justice Court Judge Gene Wambolt also assisted our office with the purchase of a new state-of-the-art walk-thru metal detector as well as two handheld devices which will be utilized during any high risk proceeding in the court.

On the Search and Rescue front, the all volunteer unit continued to conduct in-depth trainings and responded to a multitude of call outs during the year.  They also received numerous financial donations which allowed them to purchase a 20-foot emergency command post trailer. This trailer is equipped with HAM radio capability along with search and rescue supplies, including equipment that was purchased through an NRA grant obtained by the unit.

Finally, it was a year where, unfortunately, we said good-bye to too many friends of this office.  Longtime North Resident Deputy Mike Bunch retired with honor and in good standing, as well as Administrative Clerk Renae Norris.  Both were extremely valued employees for many, many years.  We also said a painful good-bye to Winnemucca Reserve Police Officer Steve Gallian, and Humboldt County Comptroller Technician Janel Chavez.  These two exceptional souls passed on far before their times and are greatly missed.

So, as we wrap up this year and look forward to another, I continue to be so proud to lead this agency and pledge our services to all of you in our community.  All the best for 2010.

Ed Kilgore, Sheriff

January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008

"Diligent, Honorable, and Steadfast for our Community"

To the Citizens of Humboldt County:

Here we are again, at the close of another year. This year appeared to pass by even faster than the last. As with 2007, it is my goal to make sure that as your Sheriff, I provide you, the community we serve, with an accounting of our activities over the last year. This serves two purposes: First, it allows for full disclosure to the community regarding the internal workings of the county office that is responsible for providing public safety for all of us that live in Humboldt County: Second, it specifically assists us with being able to reflect back on each year, in an effort to make sure that we are getting the job done and achieving the department goals that we have set for ourselves at the beginning of each calendar year.

Fortunately, for the year of 2008, I have been able to seriously address two major issues that I promised the community that I would tackle as your Sheriff. Those two issues are: 1. advanced training for our staff; and 2. a pro-active drug enforcement strategy.

As previously mentioned, my desire for this agency is to make the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office a model among all the rural law enforcement agencies in the State. One of the ways to achieve this goal is to obtain and provide advanced training for all of our staff. To insure that our department's detectives are as proficient as they can be, I have sent them to numerous trainings related to criminal investigations throughout the year. Some of these classes were on Child Interviewing Techniques, Advanced Sex Crimes Investigations, and trainings with the U.S. Marshal's Office. For our entire staff, we brought in investigators from the Washoe County Coroner's Office to conduct an in-depth two-day training related to death investigations and sudden infant deaths. The rest of that week was rounded out with a three-day training presented by the Crime Lab of the Washoe County Sheriff's Office. This class was on Crime Scene Investigations. Other deputies attended courses on liability issues, special tactics, drug investigations, and courthouse security throughout the year.

During the spring of this year, our Search and Rescue Unit conducted their second Horse Mounted Training. In addition to this training, Search and Rescue members also conducted several training exercises and multi-day drills throughout the year.

Our department is also participating with other jurisdictions in the State, both large and small, in the new Fusion Center Concept. This program has been established as a clearinghouse for information concerning possible terrorist activities, and/or crime trends throughout the State. To partake in this program, the Sheriff's Office selected a representative who had to complete an extensive one-week training program in Reno.

On the second topic of concern, our office began to tackle the drug program in our area. On this front, our office has continued to pursue cases involving Drug Endangered Children (DEC). This is a program started in our county last year which focuses on saving children from homes where their caregivers choose their drug addiction over the care of their children. This program has resulted in numerous children being taken and placed in safer environments pending the possible reunification with parents. In September, we had the privilege of being asked to present the specifics behind our program to the Governor's Working Group on Methamphetamine. This group is chaired by the Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto. In fact, the Attorney General mentioned that to her knowledge the DEC program in Humboldt County is the only one in the State.

Another tactic that we utilized this past year was a two-day Criminal Enforcement Operation. During this program, Humboldt County deputies were assisted by members of the Tri-County Drug Task Force, and also by members of both the Elko Police Department and Elko County Sheriff's Office Canine Teams, in attempting to locate drugs being transported through our county. This very successful operation netted several different types of illegal drugs, a firearm, and a total of 11 arrests.

And finally, on the drug front, our agency is about to be gifted a fully certified drug detection dog from the Elko Police Department. We are currently in the process of selecting which member of our staff will be chosen as the dog's handler. This assignment will be a very demanding, yet extremely rewarding, position for whomever is selected. It is our hope that this team of dog and law enforcement handler will be able to greatly assist our other deputies with removing dangerous drugs from our community and schools.

A few other prominent accomplishments for the year were:

• The completion of a complete Evidence Room Audit and the purchase of an Evidence Tracking system (a barcoding machine).
• Establishment of a new Emergency Medical Dispatching Protocol for our Communications Division.
• Establishment of a toll free line in Dispatch for those living outside of the Winnemucca area.
• The hiring of a new resident deputy for the McDermitt area.
• Address verifications on sex offenders living in Humboldt County to verify that they are living at the locations that they specified on their registration forms.

One specific honor I have as Sheriff is that of acknowledging the extra superior performance of my staff. During this past year, I had this distinct privilege on several occasions. In June of this year, Sergeant Lee Dove, Deputy Cory Allen, and Deputy Lincoln Fay were presented the Sheriff's Medal of Merit Award for the exceptional bravery they displayed during the night of the very tragic events at the Players Bar in Winnemucca. Communications Operators Chris Marshall and RaeEllen Lueptow were also presented the Sheriff's Commendation Award for the Players incident.

Deputies Jim Loveless and Louie Landa were awarded the Sheriff's Commendation Award for the unsolicited aide that they gave a member of the community which no doubt saved his life.

In November, I had the honor of presenting Deputies Jackie Lynn and Hellie Casey with the Sheriff's Commendation Award for their quick action in putting down a fire that began in the Detention Facility.

So, as you can see, we are continuing to move this office forward, in an effort to make it one of the best in the State. I am exceptionally proud of all the men and women who serve under me, including sworn, civilian, and volunteers. It is my express hope that you too have been pleased during any interactions that you may have had with our members throughout this past year.

If you have any concerns, questions, or just general comments, please do not hesitate to contact me, or a member of my staff.

To you and your families, all the best for 2009.

Sincerely,
Ed Kilgore, Sheriff
Humboldt County

January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007

To the Citizens of Humboldt County:

As we close the year 2007 and look forward to 2008, I want to take this opportunity as your Sheriff to reflect upon and share with you some of the accomplishments of the Sheriff's Office during my first year in office.

To say the least, I am greatly humbled by your support of me during the election of November 2006. It will always be my goal to maintain that support and to foster the greatest possible relationships that I can with you, the members of my community. As a true advocate of "Community Oriented Policing", I believe that the better relationships we foster between law enforcement and the public, the safer our community will be and Humboldt County will continue to be a great place to live.

When I ran for this office, one of my goals was to make the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office a model agency among all of the rural agencies in Nevada. To achieve this goal, I knew that one of the first things I would have to do is to get our department to full staff. Our agency had several vacancies in the Patrol and Detention Divisions as well as Dispatch. By immediately addressing these vacancies by hiring competent personnel, I knew that we would accomplish two things right away. The first would be to reduce the overtime that was being paid out to the existing staff who were working extra hours to make up for the lack of personnel. The second accomplishment would be to allow our staff to gain some of their personal time back with their families. This has a terrific effect in reducing "burn out" and employee turnover.

To make this goal a reality, I needed a staff of qualified individuals to help me. Therefore, I put into place a personal staff of veteran law enforcement personnel. As my Undersheriff, I appointed Curtiss Kull, a 23-year veteran peace officer; for my Commander, I chose Bill Dalley, a 15-year veteran; and for my Special Programs Director, I hired 30+ year law enforcement professional Thomas Casey. To round out this team, I appointed Beverly Wilson as my Office Manager. Beverly came to me from the Washoe County Sheriff's Office where she served as the assistant to their Undersheriff and two Assistant Sheriffs.

Once my team was in place, we immediately set out to get the Sheriff's Office to full staff. By summer of 2007, we accomplished that goal by hiring two ladies for our Communications (Dispatch) Division: Haida Caruso and Kathy Wagner. We also welcomed Deputies Hellie Casey, Don Darlington, and Phillip Smith to the Detention Division. Deputy Ed Holsclaw joined the team with the Patrol Division. In regards to staffing and personnel issues, the year saw the promotion of Deputy Dave Milton to Sergeant and Deputy Kevin Malone to Detective. Deputy Dane Olson was selected as the new Resident Deputy to serve the community of Orovada.

We had several deputies successfully pass both the Category One and Category Three Peace Officer in Standards and Training Academies throughout the year. Deputies Damon Kuskie, Victor Castaneda, and Jason Parce all started their time as patrol deputies after finishing the Academy.

One of the most visual changes that occurred during the year was the selection and implementation of our new uniform and our new department patch. Lowry High School Senior Janeanne Knox designed the winning patch that is now being worn on the uniform of all members of the Sheriff's Office. Another visual change is the new color scheme on our patrol vehicles. In addition to the new colors, we now also have a motto for the agency that is proudly placed on the left and right quarter panels of these units. "Diligent, Honorable, and Steadfast for our Community" is the motto that was submitted by Deputy Randy Close.

One of the greatest changes for the agency came in the spring with the establishment of an active, fully staffed Search and Rescue Team. Under the leadership and organization of my Special Programs Director Tom Casey, we now have a team of extremely committed volunteers from our community who are broken down into horse mounted teams, ATV teams, and Jeep teams. They have all undergone numerous hours of training during this year in ATV safety, map reading, and the working of GPS. The Search and Rescue Team has been activated this year for searches for missing persons as well as to assist in searching for evidence in criminal cases.

Continuing on my theme to make the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office a model agency among the rural agencies in our state, I also brought in numerous free courses of training for all of my personnel, to help them increase their knowledge in job related areas. Courses were offered in Drug Enforcement, Interviewing, DUI, Domestic Violence, and Law Enforcement Ethics training.

Finally, to wrap up a very busy year, we saw the accomplishment of our first Community Survey and the implementation of the Drug Endangered Child Program. The Community Survey was conducted in November and resulted in some 200 plus random persons in our community being contacted over the phone to learn of their observations of the Sheriff's Office, as well as any particular problems that they may have in their respective neighborhoods. Information gleaned from this survey will help me in working with our community to address any of the issues that came up. Additionally, these surveys will be conducted on a yearly basis so we can chart our progress or note where we have to better ourselves as a service provider. The Drug Endangered Child Program will be a pilot program and one of the first of its kind in rural Nevada. This is a pro-active program aimed at hopefully, breaking the cycle of drug usage within families and rescuing a future generation from the scourge of drug abuse.

As we put a close to this year, I would like to again thank all of you for your support of me, and especially for your support of the outstanding men, women, sworn, civilian, and volunteers, that make up YOUR Sheriff's Office. It is our pleasure to serve you, and we look forward to a positive, productive, and cooperative relationship in the years to come.

Ed Kilgore, Sheriff