Jennifer Grant-Blount

President

My name is Jennifer Grant-Blount and I am the Immediate Past President of Northern Nevada COPS. I am the proud daughter of Deputy David Grant, EOW May 31, 2004. While responding Code 3 to a plane crash, a local utility worker failed to yield the right of way and hit my father's patrol vehicle. He died an hour later at our local hospital. My Dad was and still is my hero. I am grateful for this wonderful organization, where I can keep his name and legacy alive. He was a bear of a man, hard working, funny as hell, and had the best taste in music. He loved serving his community or anyone he came across who needed help or support. He worked many assignments during his 28 year career from patrol, motors, investigations, to undercover and coroner. I have so many memories of him that I carry with me everyday. I am a mother to Cruz David and Isabel Patricia and wife of Reno Police Sergeant, Adam Blount. I am a country recording artist when I'm not rooting for my husband and kids during motocross races. I have a great obsession for dogs, and have two at home, SweetPea and Grizzly.  I love to travel and spend time with my family.  Northern NV COPS holds a special place in my heart. I am grateful for the relationships that I have gained, as well as the support from our local business owners and law enforcement agencies. I look forward to continuing to work alongside this fantastic organization.

Lacie Carl

Immediate Past President

My name is Lacie Carl and I am honored to serve as the President for the Northern Nevada Chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors. I am the surviving daughter of Deputy Franklin J. Minnie, Sr. from the Washoe County Sheriff's Office in Reno, NV. On May 30th, 1997, my dad was involved in a motorcycle accident while in pursuit of a suspect on the freeway. He spent the next two and a half days fighting for his life, and ultimately succumbed to his injuries on June 1st, 1997. My family spent the years that followed his death simply drowning in heartache and grief, hoping for the day to come when it would get easier. I have learned that it never truly gets easier, but I have gotten stronger. Grief is a very isolating and lonely experience, and I spent many years feeling as if the rest of the world had forgotten that we were still hurting. Once I was introduced to C.O.P.S., I realized how many people are also in a similar boat and that I was not alone in my pain. I attended my first retreat as an adult child survivor the same month as the 20 year anniversary of my father's passing. It was a life changing experience I was blessed with, and I knew on the plane ride home that I was going to need to get involved to help others who may be walking the same path as I was. I jumped on board as the Chapter Vice President shortly thereafter. I am dedicated to helping other families, officers and agencies in our area. Outside of C.O.P.S., I am a mom to 4 amazing boys, and we enjoy camping, football, music, gardening, traveling, and doing things as a family. I look forward to connecting with everyone and thank you for the opportunity to give back to an organization I hold so dear to my heart.

Jesse Watts

Vice President

Jesse Watts was elected the 30th Sheriff-Coroner of Eureka County on June 12th, 2018.  Sheriff Jesse Watts was Re-Elected June 14th, 2022.

Jesse started his Law Enforcement career in Amity, Oregon, as a Police Cadet in 1998. Jesse served as a Cadet until 2006, when he was sworn in as a Police Officer with the City of Amity. Jesse came to Eureka County in 2013, when he was hired by Sheriff Ken Jones. Jesse served the community as a Deputy Sheriff, Deputy Coroner, Field Training Officer and Drug Recognition Expert. Jesse is the surviving co-worker of 13 fallen officers, most recently, Sergeant Ben Jenkins. 

Jesse loves to go fishing, hunting, side by side riding, spending time with his family during his spare time. Jesse has a passion to make Eureka County the safest place to live, work, play and raise our families. 

Loren Ross

Treasurer

Born and raised in Reno, NV, I began my career with the Reno Police Department as an Explorer in 1969 and was hired as a Cadet in 1973. Promoted to Police Officer in 1975, and Sergeant in 1986, I retired in 2002 as a Detective Sergeant. I was blessed to meet and marry an amazing woman, and we’ve now been married for 40 years, with 2 grown sons and one 9 year old granddaughter.  I’ve been involved in volunteer work for my entire adult life in a wide variety of organizations including Little League baseball, Pop Warner football, Washoe County Sheiffs Office HASTY Team Search & Rescue, and Scouting to name a few. I also REALLY enjoy fishing!

I’m a surviving coworker of Officers Jimmy Hoff, Keith Hashimoto, John Bohach, and Mike Scofield of the Reno Police Department, and Sgt. George Sullivan of the University of Nevada,Reno Police Department. I’ve been involved with the Northern Nevada Chapter of COPS for 3 years, and I’m proud to now be a member of the Board of this great organization.

Ginger Howell

Chaplain

Chaplain Ginger Howell is currently serving as chaplain and peer support team member with Washoe County Sheriff's office. In the past, she was the volunteer chaplain coordinator for the Harris County Sheriff's Office in Houston Texas. She trained, mentored, and supervised 45 volunteer chaplains serving HCSO. The chaplains rode patrol, performed death notifications, visited deputies in the hospital, visited dispatchers weekly, and helped with funerals. Ginger also served on the CISM team for HCSO.

From 2014 to 2017 Ginger assisted in 6 coworker line of duty deaths; 4 from her agency, and 2 were from other agencies. On 9/27/19 she lost another close HCSO deputy friend, Sandeep Dhaliwal due to a LODD. 

Chaplain Ginger became interested in C.O.P.S. after having the privilege of escorting Survivor families to Police week in 2015 and 2016. She saw first hand how C.O.P.S. retreats and programs bring healing to line of duty death survivor families and coworkers. She is honored to volunteer as Chaplain with the Northern Nevada C.O.P.S. chapter and attended Police Week again in 2020.

Chaplain Ginger Howell is an ordained crisis and disaster response chaplain with IFOC, The International Fellowship of Chaplains . She is also trained in : Individual and group CISM, FEMA incident command, DMORT, psychological first aid, mental health first aid, and suicide prevention. She received her Mental Health Coach Certification from Light University in 2023. 

National COPS

573-346-4911