NEW BEAT

During his first stint as a cop, Henderson police officer Jamie Borden built a reputation as a hardworking officer who sometimes had to be dragged from the field at the end of a shift.

He was a good cop who loved the work.

He also was a pretty good drummer -- good enough to record an album and tour Russia.

So after four years on the police force, Borden traded his badge for a pair of drumsticks and set out for rock star glory.

"One thing led to another, and for seven years I just had a great run," the 42-year-old Las Vegas native said of his life working full time behind the drums.

Despite his musical success, Borden said he often would wake up with disappointment after a night of dreaming about being a police officer. He itched for a return to public service.

After years of sitting behind a drum set and performing in front of crowds on the Strip and elsewhere, Borden is back in blue with the agency he left.

A lot has changed since then. His lieutenant in narcotics, Jutta Chambers, is now the police chief. Henderson's population has boomed.

But the job, and its appeal for Borden, remain the same.

"When you become a police officer, you become that job," he said. "You can't stop being who you are."

Long before Borden was a cop, he was a drummer. His mother bought him his first drum set at 14, and he hasn't stopped playing.

In his 20s, he put out an instructional video, toured Russia with a rock band from that country and recorded a melodic rock album with the band Jillson that remains a popular find for collectors, he said.

But Borden also had a day job working for the Nevada Department of Transportation, where he worked his way up after starting at 17 as an engineer on a road crew.

It paid the bills, but it was just a job, he said.

As he neared the age of 30, Borden decided to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, who was an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department.

Borden had joined with his brother for more than 50 ride-alongs. After baby-sitting musicians for years, he was attracted to the discipline police work demanded, he said.

He chopped his shoulder-length blond hair and tested with both the Metropolitan and Henderson police departments in late 1996. He passed both tests but picked Henderson because he was drawn to the smaller department.

As a patrol officer, Borden found good use for his drumming skills when he was dispatched to a noise complaint call involving a garage band. Borden walked in, sat down at the drum set and started playing.

"I said, 'If you guys are going to disturb the peace, it's going to be like this,'" Borden said.

Meanwhile, the young drummer stared at Borden and the instructional video sitting nearby and finally made the connection. That changed the youths' attitude toward the police, he said.

"Now we were humans," he said.

In his four years with the department, Borden worked patrol, served as a field training officer and was promoted to narcotics detective.

But by early 2001 Borden's father, who was paralyzed and blinded when a drunken driver crashed into him in 1980, got sick.

Around the same time his wife, Shannon, who was also a Henderson police officer, got hurt on the job.

Borden needed schedule flexibility to handle the family issues, so he made the difficult decision to leave the police force and make a living with his first love: music.

He second-guessed himself for about a year, he said.

His first break came when legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart hired Borden to do an instructional video.

Borden also formed a Las Vegas band called Phoenix, which featured Jimmy Crespo, who played guitar for Aerosmith in the early 1980s.

The band toured the country, including gigs in Atlantic City and Lake Tahoe, and starred in hotels along the Strip, including New York-New York, the Las Vegas Hilton and South Point.

Last year, Phoenix had just finished a show at New York-New York when Borden heard a series of pops in the casino. He knew they weren't fireworks and rushed to the casino floor as hundreds of panicked people scrambled for cover.

A gunman had opened fire, hitting four people before he was tackled by onlookers.

Borden headed for the casino, directing people to safety as he searched for a band mate's wife. He eventually found her and brought her to safety.

That incident, he said, brought out his inner "sheep dog," the instinct to take charge and help when the "wolves" threaten.

Even before the shooting, those close to Borden could tell he missed the job. His old partner and friend, officer Brian Flatt, said Borden always asked about the latest happenings and capers going on in Henderson.

"He was always into it, like he was still a cop," Flatt said.

Earlier this year, Borden decided it was time to come back. He contacted some of the department's ranking officers and asked if they would take him. Of course, they said.

After he had made his decision, the band Air Supply asked Borden if he would join their international tour. He turned it down without hesitation, he said.

Then he knew, "I'm back," he said.

When he made his decision, the Henderson Police Department already had filled its slots in the summer session of the Southern Desert Regional Police Academy.

Borden didn't want to wait until the next session, so he paid the academy tuition from his own pocket. The department picked up the tab in week 13 of the 20-week academy when another recruit dropped out.

At 42, Borden was twice the age of some of the recruits. And with his close-cropped graying hair, some recruits thought he was another recruit's father.

He ended up being a mentor for the other recruits, helping them understand how their classwork applied to the real world.

He graduated earlier this month and again wears the badge of the Henderson Police Department.

"We're excited he's back," Chambers said.

So is Borden, who faces 17 weeks of field training before returning to patrol on his own.

He still plays the drums in his spare time, and he'll still conduct drumming clinics. He plans to record another album with Phoenix.

But he's really looking forward to restarting his police career and wherever it takes him.

"I always knew I was a cop," he said.

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.