Police forces, Secret Service ready for debate

The U.S. Secret Service hasn’t received intelligence about any threats connected with the final debate between presidential candidates Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump at UNLV, an official from the agency’s Las Vegas office said.

But Wednesday night’s event is still all hands on deck.

Secret Service agents will join forces with the Metropolitan Police department, UNLV police, the Nevada Highway Patrol and others to make sure the debate at the Thomas & Mack Center is safe for everyone involved. There will be restricted travel around and above the debate site, a designated area for protesters and more than a thousand boots on the ground.

Las Vegas holds so many special events, and valley police departments are so used to working them, that security won’t be too challenging, special-agent-in-charge Brian Spellacy from the Secret Service’s Las Vegas field office said.

“There’s no better place to hold an event like this than in Las Vegas,” he said.

Spellacy wouldn’t discuss confidential security measures such as the exact number of officers working or what kind of vetting debate attendees went through.

But UNLV Police Chief Jose Elique estimated about 1,000 Metro officers will patrol the debate site. Every UNLV police officer will be working on campus Wednesday night alongside additional College of Southern Nevada police.

Metro spokesman officer Larry Hadfield couldn’t confirm that number, citing security, but that would be about a quarter of the force, most of which will be accruing overtime pay. An estimated $500,000 from UNLV and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors authority will go toward police services for the debate.

Students who have class on campus — many classes were canceled — should have been alerted via UNLV’s website and social media sites about where they can and can’t go, Elique said, but basically, students should avoid the debate site, which will have an inner and outer perimeter.

Elique said he hadn’t heard about any planned disruptions, and officials set up an area for protesters with microphones and stages on the outskirts of the debate safe zone at 4700 Paradise Road.

“We’re confident that we’re going to maintain a safe environment,” he said.

Spellacy said there will also be a flight restriction over UNLV. Federal Aviation Administration records show that the restriction is in place from 11:30 a.m. until 9 p.m., but McCarran International Airport officials said the restriction affects mainly drones and helicopters.

Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0391. Follow @WesJuhl on Twitter.