Reno, NV…..The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office was recently awarded a $12,695 grant from the Community Foundation of Western Nevada’s Truckee River Fund to support the continued use of the Sheriff’s community service work crews for cleanup projects along the Truckee River continues to receive support

The grant was accepted by the Washoe County Board of Commissioners during their December board meeting.
Since 2008, the Truckee River Fund has awarded the Sheriff’s Office close to $90,000 in grants to fund a work crew supervisor and help with the cost of equipment needed. Work crew projects include weeding invasive plant species, cleaning up trash, removing the remnants of homeless camps and protecting trees from beaver damage.

With local governments facing severe budget reductions, many of these projects could not be completed without the use of the Sheriff’s community service work crews. The savings generated by this program’s work along the river alone is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands and is an important part of community wide efforts to maintain a healthy and attractive river system.
The Sheriff’s Community Work Program requires sentenced defendants to perform a specific number of hours or days of community service. Participants are typically low risk offenders with no violent felony charges, no current violent misdemeanor charges, no record of escape and no open charges.

The program benefits the public through savings in the cost of running the jail, and the estimated cost of work done throughout the community. During the 2009- 2010 fiscal year, Sheriff work crews saved the community an estimated $1,729,476 in labor costs.
Community service work crews are available to local non-profit and government agencies for projects ranging from event set up and tear down, to landscape maintenance, cleaning up illegal dumps sites and flood preparations. For information, contact Michael Sherak at (775) 785-4240.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office is the only full service public safety agency operating within Washoe County. The Office is responsible for operating the consolidated detention facility, regional crime lab, Northern Nevada Counter Terrorism Center, Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, court security, service of civil process and traditional street patrols.

Established in 1861, the Office has responsibly grown from a single lawman to an agency of over 750 sworn and civilian personnel. In addition, the Sheriff’s Office has more than 800 trained Citizen Corp and Search and Rescue volunteers. The Office participates in a number of regional and statewide public safety task forces including the Joint Terrorism Task Force, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force, Regional Gang Unit, Graffiti Task Force and the Illegal Dumping Task Force.