2023 crime: Sheriff concerned with traffic deaths, overdoses and suicides

Mulling over a memo he wrote on 2023 crime and public safety data, Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong pointed out areas of concern.

“We had a good year last year when it comes to notable crime incidents,” he said. “But things that stand out the most last year, to me, are the amount of deaths we’ve had related to traffic, overdoses and suicides. Those are all circumstances you can’t recover from. And these families are just devastated.”

On Jan. 12, the sheriff discussed the memo and spoke to the Nevada Appeal about positives from 2023 including a 14 percent drop in violent crime from the prior year. He spoke about the negatives as well, including a dramatic spike in drug overdose deaths, which he attributed to a dangerous mix of methamphetamine and fentanyl.

“Our goal is a safe and healthy community,” reads the memo. “Education and prevention measures are always at the forefront of the department’s drive, but when enforcement is necessary, the staff and employees of the sheriff’s office remain eager to assist.”

Traffic

Of approximately 649 traffic accidents that the Carson City Sheriff’s Office responded to in 2023, 181 resulted in injuries, and seven resulted in fatalities.

“The most significant out of the traffic deaths were the two pedestrians hit in crosswalks,” Furlong said.

He encouraged drivers in the community to pay attention. He also stressed CCSO engages in crosswalk “stings” that will likely be increasing in frequency this year.

“We’re making sure people are alert to the people in the crosswalks,” he said.

In total, CCSO issued 8,161 traffic citations last year and more than 5,500 warnings.

“Speeding violations topped the list as cause for citations, followed by expired or suspended registrations, driver’s license violations and distracted driving/cell phone use,” says the memo. “Although distracted driving is often noted as the causation of most accidents, during 2023 in Carson City, human error, such as following too close and failing to yield right of way, was the most frequently noted cause of the accidents.”

One of the traffic fatalities stemmed from an offroad incident. Furlong pointed to other fatal incidents in the outdoors, including a mountain biker who died on the west side of town, and two kayakers who disappeared on the Carson River during high flows. One of the kayakers was later found dead, and the other remains missing.

“We pick up leads all the time, but they go nowhere,” he said of the still-missing kayaker.

Furlong urged residents to be careful when while pursuing recreation in the mountainous country around Carson.

Drug overdoses

“In 2023, the (coroner’s) office documented 29 overdose deaths, more than a 50 percent increase over 2022 and more than doubling the number of overdoses in 2021,” reads the sheriff’s memo.

The majority of those deaths were related to a deadly combo, the sheriff said.

“The one piece that we can put out finger on is the combination of methamphetamine with fentanyl lacing,” Furlong said. “Meth is still the drug of choice here. And what I think users are not aware of — and I have this with some backup — most of the meth is tainted with fentanyl. They end up taking their doses, if you will, of methamphetamines, and they’re really putting their lives in jeopardy because of the fentanyl laced in it.

“This is consistent … with some other agencies’ reporting. Urine testing for probationers has disclosed an alarming rate of fentanyl-positive tests when the person has denied using fentanyl. They admit to the other drugs but not the fentanyl. A lot of folks are putting their lives in danger because they don’t realize what they’re taking.”

Furlong said the meth-fentanyl mix popped up in 2022, but use of the drug rose in 2023. November alone saw five overdose deaths in Carson City.

“The best tool we have here is to ensure that all of the officers have Narcan readily available to them,” he said, adding last year a deputy saved the life of someone who overdosed.

Furlong detailed CCSO’s multiprong approach to dangerous drugs, from treating users in drug court to teaming up with other agencies to go after distributors.

“We have deputies assigned not only locally — our special enforcement team for the street users — but at the midlevel distribution with the Tri-NET task force and the federal task force up in Reno for highest levels. We target all three levels of drugs.”

Concerning users in the community, Furlong added, “I think while it may not sit well with people, sometimes incarceration and getting people into the drug court system is the best route. It gets them services. It gets them cleaned up. It gets them back on their feet. The drug court philosophy – or the specialty court philosophy over here — is a very, very useful tool to us to fight that methamphetamine.”

Suicides

There were 23 suicides in Carson City in 2023. Twelve were by gun, 6 by prescription drugs, 4 by hanging and one by asphyxiation.

By comparison, there were 16 suicides in 2022 and 27 in 2021. None of the suicides in 2023 were juveniles, Furlong emphasized.

“What we’re finding is that these people who do commit suicide have no contact with our mobile outreach team,” he said.

CCSO’s MOST units (Mobile Outreach and Safety Team) pair peace officers with clinical social workers. There are currently two MOST teams that respond to people in crisis, including people threatening suicide.

The challenge is how to reach people who are under the radar and how to find them the right resources, Furlong explained.

“The challenge here is historical: ‘If I call the cops on my son, they are just going to arrest him.’ That’s not a true statement,” he said. “Family and friends usually have some inkling that somebody is in crisis, and we stand ready around the clock to get people out to help. We are not out to arrest people in crisis.”

Furlong said CCSO hasn’t yet expanded the number of MOST teams, but because of growing need, “we’re not far from it.”

He also addressed another mental health issue concerning him: the lack of mental health services for adolescents. Carson Tahoe Health’s Mallory Behavioral Health Crisis Center, for instance, only takes adults. While no juveniles committed suicide last year, total juvenile arrests climbed to 390. This marks a “high point” since 2020, according to the sheriff’s memo.

“This trend has elevated the importance and need for upgrading the current juvenile detention facility in Carson City that often must rely on housing juveniles outside of the local area,” the memo states.

To the Appeal, Furlong put it this way: “We need better services toward giving juveniles an opportunity to succeed in life.”