The new Pershing County Sheriff promised to get the arrest count up from last year, and he’s already delivered – 12 arrests and an unknown number of citations. At least one Burner has been reported sitting in a jail cell after dogs discovered all his stash in a search of his vehicle.
A highway patrol crackdown on I-80 also netted a lot of valuable citations for the under-funded police.
From the Reno Gazette Journal:
Pershing County Sheriff’s deputies have made about 12 arrests so far since Burning Man opened its gates Sunday morning, with some arrests made and citations issued even before the festival started.
“Its kind hard to track because we’ve had so many as we speak,” Pershing County Undersheriff Tom Bjerke said Tuesday. “There were some before that. Most of it at this point is for controlled substances and maybe battery witnessed by the officer.”
…Bjerke said he absolutely expected more arrests as the festival continues. Details on the arrests made were not immediately available.
“We’ve seen a much, much bigger crowd earlier in the event this year,” Bjerke said. “The information system is being overloaded because of a combination of factors.”
That includes bad communication between deputies at the playa and officers at the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office.
“We don’t have the best equipment in the world here, and we’re trying to communicate with a lot of outdated stuff,” Bjerke said…“We’re making more arrests because we have more officers out there,” he said. “We’re issuing citations for personal dope and seizing the dope and going on with the event.
Most Burners arrested on drug-related charges “made a life mistake,” Bjerke said. Those mistakes shouldn’t take away from the event, he said.
“You have a choice a lot of the times to arrest someone or issue a citation and a lot of the times it’s easier to issue a citation.”
[Source: RGJ]
Read the full story at the RGJ.
What sort of stuff are they trying to communicate with? Did their radios stop working? How hard can it be to write up a citation or put handcuffs on someone and drive them to jail in your car?
At least they have enough technology now to make life easier for their dogs.
[image published in Daily Mail removed at request of photo subject]
The Nevada Highway Patrol have been cracking down on Burners, too. The RGJ again:
A crackdown on speeding and traffic violations along Interstate 80 ended with 245 traffic stops from the California state line to Lovelock, the Nevada Highway Patrol said Tuesday.
Eleven state law enforcement agencies finished the three-day effort to eliminate fatalities across the 2,900 mile long Interstate 80 on Monday. Authorities focused on enforcing the I-80 corridor throughout the weekend.
A total of 119 drivers were cited from the California State line to Lovelock, NHP spokesman Trooper Duncan Dauber said in a news release.
Authorities conducted 245 traffic stops, gave 111 warnings and inspected 21 commercial vehicles. A total of 12 crashes were reported and two drivers were cited for seat belt violations.
Thousands of vehicles traveled across I-80 over the weekend to attend Burning Man, about 110 miles north of Fernley.
The Nevada Highway Patrol released the following statement on the increase in traffic:
“The goal of the I-80 Challenge is simple: saving lives. Saving lives starts with a change in driving behavior. With local media assisting in the distribution of the message and its importance, the weekend here in Northern Nevada concluded fatality free.”
Although this year’s I-80 Challenge has concluded, the state wants to reiterate that every day is an opportunity to focus on driving safe and staying alive.”
State wide, 18 crashes were reported. A total of 182 traffic citations were issued, plus 294 speeding citations. Authorities also arrested eight drivers on a driving under the influence charge and four on drug-related charges.
At a glance
Northern Nevada traffic stops:
Number of Crashes: 12
Number of Fatal Crashes: 0
Number of Fatalities: 0
Number of Speed Citations: 62
Number of Seat Belt Violations: 2
Number of Traffic Citations: 119
Number of Warnings: 111
Number of DUI Arrests: 7
Number of Drug Arrests: 0
Number of Stops: 245
Number of Commercial Vehicle Inspections: 21
Mileage Driven: 8057 miles
Statewide traffic stops:
Number of Crashes: 18
Number of Fatal Crashes: 0
Number of Fatalities: 0
Number of Speed Citations: 294
Number of Seat Belt Violations: 11
Number of Traffic Citations: 182
Number of Warnings: 359
Number of DUI Arrests: 8
Number of Drug Arrests: 4
Number of Stops: 840
Number of Commercial Vehicle Inspections: 21
Mileage Driven: 20105 miles
Source: Nevada Highway Patrol
[Source: Reno Gazette Journal]