Editor’s note: The Fallon Post and Lahontan Valley News are sharing articles on Churchill County sheriff and school board candidates. Sara Dowling of the Lahontan Valley News reports on the sheriff candidates' responses.
By Sara Dowling, Lahontan Valley News
The Oct. 6 Candidates Night at the Fallon Convention Center featured the school board races as well as two Fallon residents who are seeking the position of Churchill County sheriff, Lee Orozco and Michael Davis. The candidates alternated responses in alphabetical order.
Early voting begins Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Churchill County Administrative Complex, 155 N. Taylor St. Early voting is also available Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Community Learning Center, 8955 Mission Road. Early voting continues through Oct. 30. Election Day voting is Nov. 3 at the learning center and at the Fallon Convention Center, 100 Campus Way.
Incumbent Orozco was appointed sheriff in April after the death of Richard Hickox. Originally from Reno, Orozco began his law enforcement career as a reserve deputy with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office before moving to Churchill County in 1996.
For the past 30 years, Orozco’s positions have included jail training officer, patrol, narcotics investigator, criminal investigator, patrol sergeant, captain, and executive leadership. He attended the University of Nevada, Reno, from 1987 to 1992. Orozco and his wife, Elizabeth, raised their four children in Fallon.
“My experience has not been limited to one assignment or one part of the organization,” Orozco said. “I’ve spent three decades learning the Churchill County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) from the ground up and taking on progressively greater levels of responsibility.”
Davis, originally from Gardnerville, first joined the Nevada Department of Corrections in 2009 at the Lovelock Correctional Center. Prior to that, he and his wife, Shannon, owned and operated a northern Nevada construction company for eight years. Davis is currently a CCSO sergeant and has spent 14 of his 18 years in law enforcement in Churchill County.
During his career, Davis has served in detention and patrol, narcotics enforcement, gang investigations, training, and supervision. He currently leads active shooter training sessions throughout the county. He resigned from the Churchill County Sheriff’s Deputies Association in order to run for sheriff.
“Leadership has always been important to me, which is why I served as vice president and president of the Churchill County Sheriff’s Deputies Association,” he said. “In those roles, I was entrusted to represent my fellow deputies, manage budgets responsibly and help guide important decisions during contract negotiations.”
What are your views about license plate readers, and do the cameras violate an individual’s privacy as defined by the Fourth Amendment?
Davis said the county only has one such camera near Walmart that was taken offline by vandalism a month ago. He said the county doesn’t run actual Flock cameras, but uses a Motorola system controlled exclusively by the sheriff’s office. He said, if elected, he would continually assess the policies regarding who has access to the camera footage and why, as well as require deputies to obtain a search warrant to track a vehicle.
“I don’t want to spend money on something that is not going to be useful to the community,” Davis said. “As a law enforcement officer I love them, but I have to evaluate whether or not they’re going to violate rights of the citizens of this country.”
Orozco said he sees the camera as a valuable tool and pointed out that the Supreme Court has ruled that its use in a public space is not a violation of the Fourth Amendment. He said the intention is to install license plate readers at points along the highway to catch stolen vehicles, high-speed chases, silver alerts, and Amber alerts before they reach town.
“We have no intention of violating anyone’s rights,” Orozco said. “We’re looking for tools so we can catch the bad guys.”
How will you deal with budget shortfalls?
Orozco said this past year the department has worked within some budgetary restrictions by applying for equipment and training grants, purchasing one new patrol truck instead of four and lowering the number of requested new personnel. He is also considering the addition of a civilian employee to handle vehicle checks and animal control calls to free up the deputies for law enforcement calls.
Davis said his first priority would be to evaluate the necessity of every current program and reallocate funds, if needed. He would also compare the possibility of purchasing cheaper patrol vehicles, such as a motorcycle for speed enforcement, instead of only trucks.
How can Churchill County attract and retain highly qualified deputies?
Davis said the department lost over 30 years of experience when two long-term field training officers left for another county about four months ago. He has proposed several programs to give deputies something outside office work and to create diversity in their careers. He said he would like to see a motors unit, a mental health outreach team, a student Explorer Program, and a tactical team in partnership with the Fallon Police Department.
“It’s a tough deal to tell them to work in detention, patrol and maybe, if you’re lucky, you can be an investigator,” Davis said. “We need to create programs for the deputies to stay here. This is a great community we live in, and it has a lot to offer.”
Orozco said Churchill County has been very supportive of law enforcement, but positions across the country are currently very tough to fill. Wages and benefits are negotiated by the county commissioners and the union, he said.
“What we want to do is make a department where people want to stay,” Orozco said. “We want to make sure they have the right training, equipment, and the opportunities to develop in their chosen career.”
Both candidates said they would like to see applicants who want to build a life and a career in Churchill County. They encouraged exploring interest through joining the sheriff reserves, or making an appointment with a law enforcement ride-along program or the dispatch sit-along program.
Are the rumors true on social media about increased crime within the county?
Davis said it depends on the type of crime in question. The CCSO is working with the Fallon Police Department to address a recent increase in vehicle thefts, he said, and the current staffing shortfall is making it difficult to proactively patrol.
“We’ve gone backwards in 30 years,” Davis said. “That’s a problem when the population’s gone up 12,000 people, and we’re still policing it with the same numbers we were in 1992.”
Orozco said there has been some increase in batteries, domestic violence, and DUI cases. Some of those can be fixed through proactive patrol, he said, and some need assistance such as assigned counselors.
“A lot of times, burglaries and crimes of that nature are done by one or a small group of individuals,” Orozco said. “If we can proactively go out there and find these subjects, put them in jail, then we’re taking these guys off the streets. Those crimes go down.”
What should we do as a community to address the homeless population we are beginning to see?
Orozco said a private property owner can call for the CCSO to process a trespass charge. Public property and the Bureau of Land Management areas have rules for how long someone can stay.
“We do encourage them to move along,” Orozco said. “We have to do it within a legal framework. Unfortunately, these people don’t really want our help. They’re happy the way they’re living.”
Davis said the CCSO offers resources including lists of church groups and amenities like showers, but he agreed that the homeless population doesn’t want assistance. He said he believes creating a mental health outreach and crisis intervention team will help with the “revolving door” of the situation.
“It’s a complex issue,” Davis said. “But, at the end of the day, it’s here, and we have to learn to manage it.”
In his final thoughts, Davis reiterated his experience in leadership roles and his work to bring wages up and increase incentives for deputies in the county.
“I’m willing and ready to go to work for this county,” Davis said. “It’s time for a working sheriff; someone that’s going to roll up their sleeves and get to work.”
Orozco said the CCSO is bringing back the RapidSOS system, which allows texting to 911, two-way language translation for many different languages, pinpoint location ability, and emergency video calls. The department is also testing Live911, which allows patrol deputies to hear calls in the vehicle along with a dispatcher, saving precious seconds on arriving to help.
“When you take on the weight of the administrative executive positions, it’s a lot of responsibility,” Orozco said. “I feel I’m ready for that. I’ve been doing that responsibility now for six months and for several years as undersheriff.”
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