Local tragedy and public safety: Government versus personal responsibility (published July 16, 2025 in The Grassroot Conservative)

On the evening of July 5^th at a park where a free community movie event was being held, a horrific gun homicide occurred at Ian Deutch Memorial Park in Pahrump The Nye County Sheriff’s Office no doubt had patrols in the area was they responded less than an hour before the shooting to a disturbance at the park near the skate area. As an eye-witness and attendee of the park’s movie screening, I can clearly attest NCSO had presence for a good length of time (multiple squad car lights on) as they cleared the scene. Now, with this being a free, open-to-the-public event on the Saturday of Independence Day weekend, the sheriff’s office was due to be extremely busy with service calls and emergency responses.

I considered it to be somewhat of a shock NCSO responded so quickly to the 4 person fight in the park area adjacent to the movie screening. They were not able to ID the combatants and had the kids and adults in the area of the fight (as there were approximately 50 people who descended on the area) dispersed while patrol units were on scene. It was not until the movie nearby ended, NCSO had taken off, and the field lights were coming back on when I heard the sounds of automatic gunfire. At first sound, I thought it was firecrackers as we had seen and heard several close bursts of fireworks even during the movie. The string of pops was so fast, and I figured with automatic firearms so hard to acquire, it had to be firecrackers. Sadly it would come to pass it was the sound of the illegally operated and modified handgun of the murderers. A 22 year old local man, Joseph Perry was shot 4 times and soon after pronounced dead. I am so glad the assailants and the two others wanted for questioning turned themselves in just days after. Our local law enforcement, media pressure, and citizens no doubt aided in the incarceration of the shooter and getaway driver.

Now some would say, at a public event there should be law enforcement on-site to ensure this wouldn’t happen—to deter homicidal idiots and other criminals. In a perfect world, yes—that would be ideal, but it is simply not practical. Overtime, extra shifts, and other law enforcement resources cost MONEY. If we as a community desire FREE public events, we need to either provide extra resources some way to our law enforcement personnel, or we need to take steps to protect ourselves better. I think it’s great that NCSO had even sporadic patrols in the area between other calls in case they were needed. You have to understand, Nye is a HUGE county and our limited patrol units must respond to calls for service in order of time and priority. Needless to say, July 5^th was likely busy with disturbances, fires, and other urgent calls. If you expect to have a prompt sheriff’s office response during a life and death emergency, NCSO cannot use immense resources on security detail or babysitting duty. Especially without more resources with regard to money and personnel. Did I mention we are 14 + deputies short? And perpetually seeking applicants? With all these points in mind, I can safely and confidently say we need to use all possible resources, whether they are material, monetary, or moral-based, to bolster our local law enforcement officials. Our board of commissioners will point to union contracts that we’re bound to, and yes, there is some credence to that, yet there are other opportunities. When the sheriff of Nye comes to the commissioners to ask for grant funding for a particular piece of equipment and is denied, or when he asks the board to allow a film crew to film at the jail to bolster transparency and morale and is denied, we have to wonder if our leaders want the same law enforcement success? I have my doubts.

The other side of the coin when it comes to public safety is personal responsibility—mostly parental responsibility. Now I can 100% say a parent’s child is not like a computer program one can develop 100% reliably successful code for. You cannot control all the variables that contribute to your child’s development and behaviors. My mistakes I’ve made as a youth and now as an adult are not my parents’ sole responsibility. We all have a level of autonomy and onus that we need to take ownership of. However, with that said, parents are dropping the ball and being derelict with their children. School teachers, coaches, sworn peace officers and other adults in public places like movies in the park or the skating area are not responsible to raise and correct your children. Yes there have been some good suggestions made publicly as of late: one such recommendation is an ordinance to pass a curfew at the parks. Another suggestion was to recommend our sheriff’s office respond with extra stealth when there are group disturbances at our parks. These tactics are useful, but the biggest impact to be made is better parenting. The cultural and moral decay in our society and the family unit is a precursor to bad behavior in public. I urge you to be vigilant and involved in your kids family and social lives. Stop worrying about the mistakes you made when you were young or not giving them good advice for fear of being a hypocrite. As a parent, your job is to be a hypocrite if that means you are raising better human beings. I don’t give a rip about the mistakes I’ve made in my past. I own them and bear the weight. The last thing I want to do is be a “nice” parent at the expense of raising lawless wild-lings. My past will not be a green light for my kids to go down dumb, destructive roads.

In summary, support local law enforcement in every way possible, and stay in your kids’ business!

Matt Sadler

Editor-in-Chief

The Grassroot Conservative

Pahrump, NV