Metro officers relieved to be out of ‘limbo’ on looming issue

Jace Radke

Friday, Oct. 8, 1999 | 11:13 a.m.

The word filtered down through the ranks of Metro Police quickly that the proposed deconsolidation of their department was dead.

From the deputy chiefs to the rookies still in field training, the news that Mayor Oscar Goodman and the Las Vegas City Council would not support deconsolidation came as a welcome relief Thursday.

"Absolutely this is a relief," Lt. Mark Tavarez said. "It's been like the threat of being sick and not being able to go to the doctor to get checked out."

Sheriff Jerry Keller said that concerns about deconsolidation were becoming a threat to officer safety, and he shared that with the mayor Thursday morning.

"I saw the mayor as he was walking in this morning, and he asked me how I was doing and I told him not very good," Keller said. "I was concerned that these officers who are putting their lives on the line might be thinking about deconsolidation and their family's future instead of where a suspect's hands are or the risks they are taking.

"After all these are human beings, and whether they're working in communications, the detective bureau, patrol or any other part of the department, this was on their minds."

Officer Eric Fricker, who works out of the downtown area substation, said that deconsolidation was something he thought about, but it was a bigger question for his family.

"There were a lot of officers' families that really felt the stress from this, I know that's how it was with mine," Fricker said. "There was a lot of talk back and forth between the officers because nobody really knew the facts about what was going on.

"We were kind of in limbo, but this gives us the chance to go on as a department."

Fricker said that the part of the force hit hardest by the deconsolidation talk were the new officers.

"I really felt for the new officers and the rookies," said Fricker, who has over 10 years of experience with Metro. "If this (deconsolidation) would have happened, I'd have my seniority to fall back on, but a lot of officers wouldn't."

Tavarez said he could see the stress some of the newer Metro employees were feeling has the questions about deconsolidation loomed.

"Some of our officers are still on probationary status going through field training, and that's pressure enough, but to have deconsolidation talk on top of that must have been tremendously hard to deal with," Tavarez said. "It's never easy when there is a threat of losing your job and you don't know where you're going to be."