Lyon County Sheriff’s Message of the Week: Inmates working outside are volunteers and not in danger from the heat
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Fri, 07/12/2024 - 12:37pm
The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office has been utilizing inmate work crews to assist the community in projects, and clean up events. The inmate work crews have been utilized at two cemeteries (they’re going again Sunday), the Fair Grounds and a neighborhood in Stagecoach.
Inmates are not forced onto the work crews. There is not a shortage of inmates who volunteer to work on the inmate work crews, in spite of the weather conditions outside of the jail.
Several community members shared their concern for the safety of the inmates working outside in the hot weather. The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for the work crew’s safety and well-being, while working outside. Understanding the potential for heat related injuries, the inmates are provided appropriate clothing, hats, sunscreen and copious amounts of water.
A recently released inmate, who participated in the work posted the following on our Facebook page, and I believe he shares the
sentiment of those who volunteer to participate:
“Lyon County Fair, Rodeo & Silver State Livestock Expo thank you so much for the opportunity to work with you guys, it was great to get outside for a bit and get a good workout and some snacks in but even better to be seen as a functional/contributing member of society and treated with dignity and respect rather than judged. Every time we went out to work we’ve been treated very nice and felt appreciated by the community and that says a lot about the folks in Lyon County”
Heat related injuries are serious to the communities elderly population, some cannot afford or do not have air conditioning in their residences. The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence that was over 100 Degrees inside. If you are at risk for heat related injury, please reach out to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office or Human Services, we can provide you with some type of assistance. (Dispatch, 775-463-6620)
Calls for service, crime and arrests all increase with the warmer weather. I did not know what to expect this month when I asked for the average response times County wide. I was not surprised that our response times continue to remain consistent, and even lower in some areas. When I am out and about throughout Lyon County, I see our Deputies working extremely hard to provide professional law enforcement services to our County! Our Dispatchers are working diligently to correctly identify, and dispatch priority calls appropriately, and it shows in the statistics.
Respectfully,
Sheriff Brad Pope
