There's a new sheriff in town at Black Rock City well, Pershing County, Nevada to be precise. Former sheriff's deputy Jerry Allen was elected to replace former sheriff Richard Machado, and he took office in January. He tells the Reno Gazette-Journal that he'll be bringing four more active-duty cops to patrol the playa this year, 31 in total, and he says he'd bring more if he were given the funding.
Machado had "a relatively Burner-friendly approach" according to organizers, but not so with Allen, from the sounds of it.
Sort of ominously for those who might be intending to break a law or two and, like, smoke some pot, Allen sounds like more of a hardassed law-and-order guy who says things like, "We don't change the laws when Burning Man comes to town," and "Burning Man brings nothing to Pershing County except for heartache."
Burning Man does bring a good deal of money to Pershing County, though, which he doesn't quite admit. BM paid the county $240,000 last year, "of which $196,000 went toward covering the costs of the sheriff's office's time and resources invested in Burning Man." Also, they pay for any costs related to prosecuting crimes that occur at Burning Man. And last year those included charges of sexual assault, narcotic violations (four in total), and domestic violence.
Also new this year will be stricter rules around the flying of drones, and dance parties that go more than three hours will be relegated to a specific part of the outer playa.