City, police joining forces to clean up Meadows Village

      Sheriff Jerry Keller and Mayor Jan Jones laid down their arms Monday and pledged to work together to reduce crime in Meadows Village, the downtown neighborhood where five slayings and 14 shootings have occurred in the last eight months.
      In a rare appearance before the Las Vegas City Council, Keller defended the Police Department's performance in the area behind the Stratosphere Tower but vowed to work with the city to reduce crime there.
      "The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department stands for a commitment and a responsibility each and every day to meet the needs of the community," Keller said. "Every strategy must be enforced."
      After a cordial dialogue, Keller and Jones agreed to set up a task force of Police Department and city officials to devise a plan to attack crime in Meadows Village. That will require more help from the community and not just the Police Department, Keller said.
      In recent weeks, Jones has described the crime situation in Meadows Village as "out of control." She said police presence in the neighborhood has dropped sharply recently, scaring law-abiding residents into their homes while drug dealers and prostitutes control the streets.
      While a federal community policing program ended last year, Keller said police presence in Meadows Village has remained strong. A newly opened downtown substation, he said, devotes more officers to Meadows Village than any other area downtown.
      And besides slayings and shootings, other less serious crimes have been on the decline in Meadows Village, Keller added.
      "If you can give me examples where this police (department) has not been responsive ... I certainly will address those now or later," he said. "But in my understanding, each time you have made a request, or a citizen has made a request, we have been responsive to those issues."
      "We're not saying it's your fault or our fault," Jones said. "All we're saying is how do we fix it."
      The uproar over Meadows Village started when the Police Department asked the city of Las Vegas for more money next year, compared to what Clark County will contribute for law enforcement.
      Under the department's request, the city would pay 43 percent of its 1997-98 budget, an increase from 41.6 percent last year. That translates into a $1.6 million increase over the amount the city would have paid had crime statistics remained level.
      The Metropolitan Police Department has requested $152.2 million for next year, of which the city would pay $65.5 million.
      Jones also knows about crime near Meadows Village because she is dating Stratosphere President Richard Schuetz, who reported bullet holes in a hotel parking garage.
      "We're amazed that we spend $540 million to build a hotel, create 2,700 jobs, yet police within the community aren't able to police the area," Schuetz said in a recent interview.
      "We're concerned about the safety of our associates."