Gillespie touts drop in most crime categories in 2008

The number of homicides and sexual assaults rose slightly in Las Vegas in 2008, but every other crime category within the Metropolitan Police Department's jurisdiction fell, in some cases dramatically.

Automobile thefts dropped 30 percent last year, and traffic fatalities fell 15 percent, categories in which Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie attributed to targeted efforts.

The drop in crime came despite one of the sharpest economic declines in Southern Nevada's history, as unemployment rose to record levels and growth slowed to a crawl in the second half of the year.

"Some indicators that are there tell us that some of these things that we're doing, they're working," Gillespie said.

For auto thefts, once a reliable black mark for the city in national comparisons, 2008 marked the third year in a row the department has seen a decrease. Nearly 11,500 cars were stolen in the department's jurisdiction last year, down from an all-time high of nearly 20,000 in 2005, according to preliminary statistics provided by the department.

Robberies also fell, by about 11 percent last year, and burglaries experienced a slight decrease.

Las Vegas joined other cities around the country that had crime drops. Baltimore saw the fewest homicides in two decades, according to news reports, and the Los Angeles Police Department saw crime decreases in nearly every category.

The poor economy, contrary to the belief that it can increase crime, might instead have been a factor in driving it down, University of Nevada, Las Vegas assistant professor Bill Sousa said.

Criminologists have theorized that when the economy is good for everyone, it's good for criminals, too — and vice versa, he said. And because more people might be unemployed or watching their wallets, they're more likely to spend free time at home, making them less appealing targets for burglars.

"The relationship between the economy and crime: it's sort of intuitive that if one thing must go up, the other thing must go down," Sousa said. "But that's not necessarily the case."

One category in which Sousa said the economy might be having an effect is in domestic violence, which could be driven by more stressful home situations.

Homicides last year were buoyed by a spike in domestic violence-related slayings. Those crimes made up more than a third of all homicides last year — more than gang- or dispute-driven killings, according to the department's statistics.

Gillespie said his department started targeting that trend, and late last year the department's Crimes Against Youth and Family Bureau created a new task force designed to prevent domestic violence killings.

Detectives in the task force are going after repeat domestic violence offenders and working with victims on getting them help, Capt. Vincent Cannito said.

The work of the task force also coincides with a pilot program to be rolled out this month where officers who respond to domestic violence calls will contact local shelters depending on how the victim responds to a questionnaire.

"We're optimistic that we're going to be able to identify those most at risk and provide them an avenue for assistance," Cannito said.

Gillespie praised the efforts of his civilian and law enforcement members of the department, who he said have come up with innovative ways to prevent crimes before they happen.

He attributed the drop in fatal accidents to ideas, developed in group brainstorming sessions, such as blanketing freeways with patrol officers during morning commutes. He said the tactic has helped prevented motorists from speeding not just on the freeway, but once they get off the freeway.

The quarter-cent sales-tax increase for more officers has also allowed the department to assign more patrol officers to high-crime areas, such as the neighborhood west of the Boulevard Mall, the lower Fremont Street corridor and the historic West Las Vegas neighborhood.

"I'll guarantee you today, if you drive down there you'll see a black and white. You'll see somebody on a bicycle wearing a cop uniform," Gillespie said. "Three to four years ago, you wouldn't necessarily have seen that as much on a regular basis."

The drastic drop in auto thefts is a bright point for the department, which for years watched its numbers skyrocket along with the valley's booming population.

Lt. Bob DuVall's VIPER unit, a focused auto theft task force that includes detectives from the North Las Vegas and Henderson police departments, has helped bring the numbers down.

The unit added more bait cars to its fleet last year, targeted chop-shops and received high-tech cameras that can quickly scan license plates in crowded places, such as parking garages, for stolen cars.

The unit during the holiday season also deployed psychological techniques against would-be thieves, in the form of signs announcing that bait cars were in use at parking lots in the Boulevard Mall, Meadows mall and the Las Vegas Premium Outlets mall. Whether the cars were actually in use, only the police know, but only one car was stolen from the lots while the signs were up, DuVall said.

Gillespie said he expects crime this year to continue to trend downward, although he said the number of scams that prey on the good intentions of people could increase.

But he said a possible increase in crime wouldn't be blamed on the economy.

"I don't want to hear about the economic downturn leading to more crime. That will not be an excuse in this department," Gillespie said.

Review-Journal writer Antonio Planas contributed to this report. Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.