Las Vegas police adding kiosk at Resorts World

The Metropolitan Police Department is opening a kiosk on Resorts World Las Vegas property to increase police presence on the Strip.

An opening ceremony for the facility is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday, the department said. While not a full-fledged area command, the kiosk will host a small number of officers in a building at 3000 Las Vegas Blvd. South.

The “community interaction kiosk” is meant to “assist in promoting positive visitor experiences with local law enforcement,” Metro said in a Friday statement.

On Tuesday, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told the Review-Journal that the kiosk is meant to make officers more visible on the Strip, while tourists and locals will be able to file reports at the building.

“Tourists aren’t aware of their police services, or what the police services are wherever they go and visit,” Lombardo said. “And I think we should have an omnipresence or overt presence, especially on the Strip corridor.

Lombardo said the department already has a kiosk near MGM Grand, but it’s not as identifiable as the Resorts World building.

“I’m hoping this will get the other properties on board to include us in their future construction or retrofit,” he said. “I think it’s a great benefit to the community.”

The kiosk will be staffed by officers from the convention center area command, which covers the Strip and surrounding area. Although it covers the smallest area, it has the highest population density of any Metro area command, according to the department’s website.

The convention center area command’s main building is also set to expand, with a yearlong construction project scheduled to start around September. More officers have been assigned to the Strip area because of the More Cops tax — a 0.3 percent sales tax surcharge in Clark County that pays for police officers and was made permanent by the Nevada Legislature in 2019 — so a building expansion is needed, Lombardo said.

Metro last year reported an increase in crime on the Strip, which led to a three-month operation with more than 1,200 arrests aimed at curbing violence in the area.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.