LOVELOCK - Illegal drugs and sex crimes were up at this year's Burning Man but improved cooperation reduced conflicts between law enforcement agencies according to Pershing County Sheriff Richard Machado.
"It was busy and reported crime was up 20 percent this year versus last year," he said. "We took 40-something cases and there were more drug and sex crimes. We had one fatality and that was tragic."
Detailed crime statistics from the event will be available later this week, Machado said Monday.
A unified command structure involving the Bureau of Land Management, Black Rock City Rangers, Pershing and Washoe Counties, Humboldt General Hospital, NHP and others showed improvement with greater manpower efficiency and reduced response times during emergencies, Machado said.
"We reached new organizational levels and had daily briefings so everyone knew what everyone else was doing. Communication was at a new high and I think that's why the event went better this year."
One fatal accident marred the event but apparently increased safety awareness, Machado said. The death of Alicia Cipicchio, 29, was a painful reminder for burners to make themselves visible at night and to avoid the numerous moving vehicles. A cyclist was run over by an art car and slightly injured.
"The word got out - don't jump on moving art cars or other vehicles," Machado said. "Be careful when you're riding a bicycle at night and be lit up. I think people started to pay closer attention to those safety issues and we had fewer accidents after those incidents."
Wet weather closed the gates, halted and jammed traffic in and around the event for about 20 hours. On Monday, rain turned the playa into sticky mud resulting in lines of vehicles and impromptu parties outside the entrance but a general headache for law enforcement and event officials, Machado said.
"It was like moving in a bucket of snot," he said. "You couldn't walk in it; you couldn't drive in it so they shut the gates until it dried out a little. People gathered up and had a good time anyway."
Machado said he was impressed by the massive BRC organization that creates then cleans up a temporary community of 70,000 staff, volunteers and participants. He's worked Burning Man for four years as county sheriff and "off and on" since the event moved to Pershing County in the early 1990's.
"It's a logistical phenomenon - how they organize, build and remove a city - it becomes the fifth largest city in Nevada for 10 days," he said. "The way they tear it down so you can't tell where it was is phenomenal. This kind of event of this scale happens no where else in the world."
Machado said he needed "three times" the 23 law enforcement officers hired by the county for Burning Man. Fortunately, the BLM provided nine federal officers and their vehicles to assist his deputies.
"With the workload we had, we were overwhelmed at times but every one of the investigators I had out there this year did a wonderful job," Machado said.
Full-time local deputies didn't work the event because they were needed elsewhere in the county, he said. The sheriff's roster is stretched thin especially now with one deputy on military deployment and another on light duty due to injury - that leaves only 10 sheriff's deputies to cover the entire county.
"I have two deputies in Grass Valley, four working the jail and four working around Lovelock. There's no wiggle room and crime doesn't stop in Pershing County just because there's an event on the playa."
As a law enforcement official, Machado believes Burning Man is appropriate for adults only. Some participants were "adamant" that it's a "family event" while others were annoyed that children are allowed in at an event known for frequently extreme weather, risky and/or illegal behavior, he said.
"In my professional opinion as the sheriff of Pershing County, this should be an adult event," he said. "There are too many aspects that are for adults and not children. Without children, there would be fewer emergencies - a missing person is an investigation but a missing child is an emergency."
This year, all missing kids were found and reunited with their parents without the need to close the event as in the past, Machado said. He pointed out that adults have the option to leave Burning Man while children do not and agrees with youth advocates lobbying for a minimum age at the festival.
"If you're 21 years old and you're offended by anything at the event, you can pack your stuff up and go home," he said. "At 3, 6 or 9 (years), you don't have that option."
The event stayed below the BLM's attendance cap of 68,000 but the total Black Rock City population was much higher due to staff, contractors and volunteers, Machado said. Near the end of the event, BRC spokeswoman Megan Miller reported a peak population of 65,922 that dropped the next day.
"They were below their ticketed limit but there was at least another 10,000 to 15,000 people that worked for Burning Man so there were probably over 70,000 out there," Machado said.
Last year, a national news reporter asked Machado if he was neglecting his duties at the Pershing County Sheriff's Office by spending more than a week supervising law enforcement at Burning Man.
"There's 6,500 residents in the county and the first 1,500 of those live at the prison," he said. "Then you're down to 5,000 people with 2,500 in and around Lovelock and 2,500 in the rest of the county. I told the reporter, I've got 70,000 people out here on the playa - where do you think I should be?"
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