Project to remove homeless population from Las Vegas wash faces challenges

Just over one-tenth of a $15 million project to clear out and revitalize a Las Vegas wash known to house encampments has been completed in a matter of weeks, but issues with homeless people who loiter and cause trouble in the area’s residential neighborhoods persist.

More than 50 residents showed up to raise concerns at a town hall meeting Monday evening hosted by Clark County Commission Chair Tick Segerblom and the Metropolitan Police Department, the third such gathering this year.

‘Trying to deal with the problem’

“We’re not trying to hide from the problem, we’re trying to expose the problem,” Segerblom said. “We’re trying to deal with the problem.”

Crews in late May began sweeping through a portion of the wash near Flamingo and Cambridge roads. Police and firefighters in hazmat suits entered an enclosed part where they generally stay away from because of hazardous conditions.

Roughly 60 people were displaced from the wash, officials said.

HELP of Southern Nevada’s homeless response teams director Louis Lacey said that at least two of the people who have accepted help have since been able to each find a home and a job.

Issues persist

The gathering at the Clark County Library was about half the size of a meeting in May and less contentious.

Still, residents continue to experience issues.

Brenda Wilda lives near Maryland Parkway and Desert Inn Road. She’s concerned about “ongoing encampments, vehicles, people breaking into houses” and a home that’s been occupied by squatters for a prolonged amount of time, she said.

Her home was burglarized, and a woman threatened to stab her when she stepped in to defend neighbors, Wilda said.

Officials and attendees said people have used tools to break through fences the county has installed.

The residents who spoke represented several neighborhoods east of Interstate 15.

Wilda echoed other attendees who said Metro officers kick out the intruders only for them to return shortly thereafter.

Segerblom told Wilda he would visit her neighborhood.

“Give us a week to show up,” he said. “Trust and verify: If we don’t fix it, then shame on me.”

Some speakers acknowledged modest improvements since Clark County began the construction project.

The project is 12 percent completed and expected to be finished next May, officials said.

They noted that the valley’s homelessness crisis is a multifaceted issue.

“It’s very important to us to hear from the community so that we know what issues are going on and how to address them,” said Nevada Assemblywoman Brittney Miller, D-Clark County. “I really believe that the solutions always come from those that are impacted.”

An hourslong census of Southern Nevada’s homeless population in 2024 tallied 7,906 people living on the street or staying in public shelters. That marked a 20 percent increase, overall, from the previous year and considered the highest count in a decade.

‘We take this matter very seriously’

The county earlier this year implemented a camping ban at public spaces where homeless people tend to loiter and sleep, which allows Metro to make arrests of people who refuse to accept services or move.

Capt. Landon Reyes is at the helm of the Metro substation that covers most of the problem neighborhoods discussed. He pledged to personally look into some of the complaints, and even offered to drop by one of them.

“That’s why the commissioner and I are here tonight, because we take this matter very seriously,” Reyes said. “And as you can see, the room is very full with like-minded concerns for in and around the area.”

Wilda was seen exchanging information with one of the officers present.

“They need our help as much as we need to make sure they’re under control,” Segerblom said about the homeless population. “They have a right to exist. They have a right to be treated fairly.”

He added: “In a country this rich, we have an obligation to offer them services and make sure we keep offering services. But at the end of the day, they can’t destroy our neighborhoods. That’s why we’re here.”

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.