Police departments in suburban areas weigh benefits, drawbacks of consolidation

Kim Smith

Friday, Oct. 8, 1999 | 11:05 a.m.

While the debate about the Metro Police Department breaking up ended Thursday with an announcement by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman that the city would no longer study the concept, the idea of consolidation is still an intriguing one that has probably been considered by every community in the valley.

Are there financial benefits? What would it mean in terms of redistricting? Policies and procedures? Personalities? Distribution of power?

Lt. Chris Larotonda of the North Las Vegas Police Department said he has often wondered why there hasn't been more consolidation. Should the North Las Vegas Police Department merge with Metro, the departments could combine their identification, records, communication and evidence departments, he said.

"I have actually thought it would happen over the years and I don't know that it won't happen," Larotonda said. "The sky's the limit when you have entities working together, but the political matters would have to be worked out well in advance."

City officials in North Las Vegas and other suburban communities like things just the way they are, however. They say that whatever financial benefits might be gained by consolidation are outweighed by the drawbacks.

North Las Vegas City Manager Pat Importuna said he personally likes the fact his city has its own police department. The department's officers know what is going on in the community and he has great respect for them.

While no studies have been conducted to see if there is a potential cost savings to consolidating, Importuna said "not everything in the world needs to be reduced to dollars and cents."

Moreover, residents have passed several tax overrides that have been beneficial to the police department, Importuna said.

"That to me is a clear indication they have a desire to continue" the status quo, Importuna said.

Importuna's counterparts in Mesquite, Henderson and Boulder City expressed similar views.

"We're very proud of our police department, they provide excellent service and at this point we're happy with the way the department works," Henderson City Manager Phil Speight said. "We've not considered any other methods."

The community also seems to like the current system, Speight said. A recent survey conducted by the police department showed a 70 percent favorable rating.

Henderson's acting Police Chief Mike Mayberry did not return phone calls.

Mesquite City Manager Bryan Montgomery said his city broke away from Metro in the mid-1980s shortly after it incorporated and has had no regrets.

"I think if you look at any city in any county you'll find that they wanted to be their own entity and not just in terms of the police, but in every aspect," Montgomery said.

Moreover, since Mesquite is more than 80 miles from Las Vegas, it made better sense to form a separate police department, Montgomery said.

Boulder City Manager John Sullard said distance would also be one of the considerations his City Council members would have to weigh if they should ever decide to look at consolidation.

"I haven't thought about consolidation, though," Sullard said. "But if I did, I'd have to say we're awfully proud to have our own police department."

Besides the issues of civic pride and local knowledge, Boulder City Police Chief David Mullin said the way Metro and the Boulder City Police Department operate are radically different just because of their population base.

"Boulder City is a different type of town and we like to be in control of our own destiny here," Mullin said. "We do a lot of things out here that Metro doesn't do because they are so large. We change light bulbs for little old people and we go on snake calls and dogs running at large calls. There are subdivisions in Vegas that are bigger than we are."

As far as any financial benefits to merging, Mullin said there is only one way for communities to save money.

"When you get right down to it, 85 percent of a police department's budget is manpower and if you want to save money you've got to cut the manpower," Mullin said.