NLV police count on grant in battle against growing meth problem

Lisa Snedeker

Thursday, March 25, 1999 | 11:13 a.m.

The beleaguered North Las Vegas Police Department received some good news Wednesday.

The City Council, during a special meeting, agreed to apply for a grant that if received would provide the department with funding for two additional narcotics officers as well as equipment including vests and vehicles.

If funded, the program would target domestic sources of controlled and illegal substances, specifically methamphetamine labs, said Lt. Chris Larotonda, the technical services division commander.

The number of meth labs are on the rise in North Las Vegas and throughout the valley. Within the city, the number of meth lab busts rose from five in 1997 to 13 in 1998. So far this year, police have shut down eight labs.

"We expect a banner year for meth labs (because of their mobility)," Larotonda told the council.

Requested by Police Chief Joey Tillmon, the City Council approved the appropriation of a quarter of the matching funds, or $62,542.50 annually for four years, if the department receives money from the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Formula grant program.

The $187,627.50 in federal funds bring the project's total funding to $250,170, about $20,000 of which would be used for clean up of the meth labs by Environmental Technologies.

The chances of receiving the grant are "quite good," Larotonda said.

The grant would be issued through the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety. The likelihood of receiving the grant is good news for a department that needs some.

The North Las Vegas Police Association has filed another complaint against the city with the state's Local Government Employee Management Relations Board concerning the lack of bullet-resistant vests for the detention center officers.

The union's first complaint, which is pending, was filed against the city for bargaining in bad faith over the police and detention officers' contract, which expired June 30.

Members of the police association have agreed to make plans to picket City Hall if they do not have a contract by their next meeting on April 14.

After an extended impasse, the city and the police officers' union recently began renegotiating a contract for police and detention officers. The City Council voted Aug. 5 not to accept the contract agreement because the cost of the contract for the first year would have been about $1.5 million -- $833,000 more than what had been budgeted, according to minutes from the meeting.

Also, North Las Vegas residents turned out at last week's council meeting concerning recent allegations that a police officer reported to work smelling of alcohol and amid allegations of corruption in the police department following the chief's two-day suspension without pay. The reason for the suspension was not made public.