Las Vegas police Detective Jason Hardwick watches the crowd from behind a cordoned-off area in the center of the Strip as fireworks explode at 12:05 a.m. Sunday. Photos by K.M. Cannon. Las Vegas police supervisors Saturday afternoon attend a briefing at the Las Vegas Convention Center before leading their teams patrolling the New Year's Eve festivities. Las Vegas police officers arrest a reveler who tried Saturday night to jump into a cordoned-off area on the Strip in front of Casino Royale. Officers man a portable metal barricade on New Year's Eve on the Strip. Police officers arrive late afternoon Saturday on the Strip. Most of them remained on duty until about 3 a.m. One detective said the job is "80 percent boredom, 20 percent excitement." Lt. Brian Greenway dons a radiation detector Saturday afternoon outside the Las Vegas Convention Center before leading police officers on patrol on the Strip.

If you were stuck at work on New Year's Eve, take heart: At least you're not a Las Vegas police officer.

Most officers at the Metropolitan Police Department have never had a New Year's Eve off. That's because all of the department's 2,500 or so officers, from the sheriff to the rookie, are needed to make sure the new year gets off to a safe start.

Most would rather be somewhere else.

"When you first get hired, you're like, 'Wooo, New Year's,'•" Lt. Brian Greenway, who works in the department's training bureau, said. "But after about three years, you've had enough."

Organizing such a large number of officers turns out to be a pretty massive operation, too. It started taking shape by midafternoon on New Year's Eve, when hundreds of the department's leaders from Sheriff Bill Young down to every sergeant gathered in a stuffy room at the Las Vegas Convention Center for a briefing.

Young reminded his commanders and supervising officers how important the night would be, not just for the safety of the 200,000-plus revelers on the Strip and the 13,000-plus partygoers at the Fremont Street Experience but for the image of the department.

"This is the event that can make or break us in one day," he said.

After the briefing, the supervisors filed into the parking lot and huddled with their squads. Greenway echoed the sheriff's message when he spoke to his officers. He shouted to be heard above the idling CAT buses and blustery wind.

The crowd will be filled with drunks, he yelled to his troops. They will curse. They will spit. They will try to goad the officers into fights. But no matter what the revelers do, remain tolerant and patient, Greenway said.

"Don't let one incident tonight make Metro look stupid," he emphasized.

After handshakes and words of encouragement from Young, the officers boarded buses or climbed into cars bound for their posts along the Strip and downtown. A large percentage of them were to be stationed along the center of the Strip, separated from the crowd by portable metal barriers.

Greenway's squad was positioned directly in front of The Mirage. Most of his officers seemed to share the 13-year veteran's distaste for Las Vegas' annual display of public drunkenness.

"This is my 21st year, and I get more tired of it every year," said Sgt. Mark Sharp, who was draped in a plastic poncho to protect him from the early evening rain.

The gloomy weather early Saturday night was reflected in the mood among the officers. Blustery winds and occasional rain drove many of Greenway's roughly 60 officers into a temporary shelter set up for them in the Treasure Island parking garage. They could sit under portable heaters, drink coffee and eat Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Greenway planned to rotate his squads through the shelter as the night wore on.

But by about 9 p.m., the wind had died down and the rain had subsided, leaving a calm, cool night.

The crowd of partyers already gathered along the Strip seemed light this year, officers agreed, and relatively quiet. Officers guessed the threat of bad weather had kept some away.

"It seems like a mellow crowd," Greenway said. "I'm not complaining."

Detective John Gorski, who has worked the Strip on New Year's for about 20 years, said the job is "80 percent boredom, 20 percent excitement."

"The quiet is good," he said.

Sgt. Rich Fletcher said things would heat up closer to midnight.

"It gets nerve-wracking," he said. "You can actually feel the dynamic changing. Right now it's peaceful, but about 10:30 p.m. you can feel the tensions, the energy rising. A couple of minutes before midnight you are on your toes."

The entire evening proved somewhat anticlimactic for Greenway's squad. At 10:30, the officers, many of them stifling yawns, were standing around watching the crowd.

"You got embedded with the lamest section," Sgt. Loren Napier told a reporter. "It's Murphy's law."

Besides occasionally asking partyers to dispose of glass bottles, the officers' main duties seemed to be giving out directions, posing for photographs and asking young women to keep their shirts on.

"If they (flash their breasts) too long it can create a crowd," Gorski said. "You can get pissed-off boyfriends, and that causes problems."

The women could be cited for indecent exposure, but that rarely happens. During the New Year's celebration along the Strip, officers are more interested in ensuring people have a good, safe time than they are in making arrests.

"My goal is to not make one arrest," Gorski said.

It looked like he would get his wish until shortly after 11 p.m., when an intoxicated young man tried to jump the barrier and started heckling officers.

Several officers grabbed him, threw him facedown on the pavement and kneeled on his back while another handcuffed him.

Later, as he was waiting to be walked to a police van, the man made kissy faces at friends in the crowd who chanted, "Let him go!"

"He'll spend the night in jail," Gorski said. "He's going to feel stupid tomorrow."

The rest of the night went off without a hitch for Greenway's squad. As fireworks erupted over the Strip at midnight, officers kept one eye on the sky and one eye on the crowd. Some took pictures with their cell phones. Afterward, they shook hands and wished each other a happy new year.

Officers said most would remain on duty until about 3 a.m.

Fletcher said officers' families are understanding about their inability to be together to ring in the new year.

"Metro's a good department with good benefits," the father of two said. "Being away from the family one night out of the year, they understand."