Police officers will use warehouse as weekend staging area

Diana Sahagun

Friday, Dec. 17, 1999 | 10:17 a.m.

The North Las Vegas Police Department is preparing for the worst but hoping for the best for the New Year's Eve festivities expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people to the Las Vegas Valley.

While the hectic pace of Las Vegas won't be affecting North Las Vegas too severely, North Las Vegas Police officers are bracing for a number of block parties that they say could get out of control. And they'll also be keeping their eyes on the city's gaming attractions, including the Fiesta, Texas and Jerry's Nugget, which may also draw large crowds.

To assist the officers during the city's millennium bash, police will be using a portion of the U.S. Foodservice warehouse at Cheyenne Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard as a staging, briefing and storage area from Dec. 31 to Jan. 2. The City Council approved the agreement between the police department and U.S. Foodservice -- at no cost to the city -- at Wednesday night's council meeting.

On New Year's Eve, North Las Vegas officers will report to the warehouse for their pre-shift briefing.

Because all 180 North Las Vegas officers will be working staggered shifts -- 12 hours on and 12 hours off -- the officers reporting to duty will learn about any kind of "hot spots" or parties that pose potential problems, Lt. Chris Laratonda said.

Working from one central location will make it easier to dispatch squad cars, as well as give the officers a place to check out their equipment, Laratonda said. Officers will be armed with nonlethal ammunition and pepper spray during the festivities. The facility will also serve as a mess hall so officers won't need to make additional stops.

But although personnel will be beefed up, Laratonda said normal duties will not stop.

"Just because it's Y2K, normal police services cannot cease," he said. "Our officers will be stationed throughout the valley, going to specific calls. Response times should not be any less for routine calls. We will have plenty of officers to handle whatever comes about."

While virtually anything can go wrong, he said, the department has planned for the more routine things that could fail. For example, the department has a back-up system for radios, as well as secondary channels. Generators will be ready for power if need be, and modified phones will be able to break through a blocked line in the case of an emergency.

"We don't know what to expect...we can't go back to Y1K and plan," Laratonda said. "There's no real way to plan every aspect that could take place."

Officers will continue to work staggered shifts until Jan. 2 to tackle the expected traffic problems as visitors head out of town.

"We don't want all the traffic to back-up into North Las Vegas," he said.

Laratonda said no matter what happens during the millennium weekend, the police department will be ready.

"We are all over this. No matter what happens, the police department will be out there. Whether it becomes a problem or a flash in the pan, we'll be prepared," he said.