Speakers at a Douglas County event on Jan. 2 highlighted what they described as recent public-safety gains, saying deputies have been empowered to act and citing the seizure of a large quantity of counterfeit fentanyl pills.

Speaker 2 said crime in Douglas County "is down...not by accident, but on purpose," and Speaker 3 told attendees, "Here's what we seized, about 1,700,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills," adding, "That's an absolute metric ton of fentanyl." Speaker 3 also said, "I empower my deputies for them to do their jobs." These statements were presented as assertions by the speakers and are reported here as such.

The speakers listed specific percentage declines: Speaker 3 said burglaries are down 42%, vandalism down 24% and car thefts down 24%. The event framed those figures and the seizure as results of intentional public-safety investments. Speaker 2 said the county's investment in public safety is a priority and credited that approach with enabling other county achievements.

The event did not include independent documentation of the seizure amount or the crime-statistics methodology. The numbers above are reported as claimed by the speakers; the count of seized pills and the percentage changes were not presented with supporting documentation during the remarks.

The speakers linked the seizure and crime statistics to policy choices and resource allocations for deputies; no formal motion or vote on new public-safety funding was recorded during the remarks.

What happens next: speakers emphasized continued support for law enforcement and public-safety programs; no immediate budgetary decision or formal action was announced at the event.