Las Vegas police to gain 101 jobs, reopen stations to public

Las Vegas police could see a $28 million operating budget increase for the next fiscal year, a move that would restore a total of 55 officer positions previously lost to attrition.

In addition to more officers, the increased funding would provide 46 civilian positions for the department, allowing it to reopen front desks at four area command stations that had been closed to the public due to budget constraints.

Metro’s Fiscal Affairs Committee unanimously approved the $539 million budget Monday morning. The number means the department should see an increase for the second consecutive year after its budget dipped to $489 million in 2013.

While the proposed budget would put Metro closer to it’s pre-recession budget, it’s still woefully short on personnel, which once had more than 3,000 commissioned officers.

Thirty of the officers will be directly funded through the joint city-county budget, with another 25 new positions made possible by the separate voter-approved More Cops tax fund. Taken together, the new hires would bring the department to 2,661 commissioned officers.

The More Cops account uses sales tax revenues to hire police officers. That account started after an advisory vote in Clark County approved a 0.50-percentage point increase in the sales tax. The Legislature in 2005 authorized half that amount.

The More Cops account added $20 million to the current-year budget, which equates to 152 officers. The proposed budget has no such supplements and includes the salaries for those 152 officers.

Even with the additional officers, the department is a long way from where it wants to be, said Sheriff Joe Lombardo.

Metro currently hovers around 1.75 officers per 1,000 county residents. The goal, Lombardo said, is to get back to a ratio of two per 1,000.

“This leaves us about 350 officers short,” Lombardo said.

Adding civilian positions is just as important to Lombardo, who called them a “key component” of the budget.

Sixteen of the civilian positions will go directly to the four area commands where the front desks were closed to the public over the past four years, Lombardo said. They are Bolden Area Command, 1851 Stella Lake St.; South Central Area Command, 4860 S. Las Vegas Blvd.; Southeast Area Command, 3675 E. Harmon Ave.; and Downtown Area Command, 621 N. Ninth St.

Lombardo anticipates the front desks reopening shortly after the start of the fiscal year in July.

The committee also approved the purchase of a MD 530F patrol helicopter to replace a similar aircraft that crashed on New Year’s Eve. The crash was blamed on a mechanical failure that caused a loss of engine power. Nearly the entire cost of the $3.1 million helicopter is covered by insurance.

Metro also has budgeted about $6 million to buy a new search and rescue helicopter.

Contact reporter Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Find him on Twitter: @ColtonLochhead