City study may set stage for political showdown

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Sept. 22, 1999 | 11:11 a.m.

Leaking results of a not-yet-finished study suggesting the city could save millions of dollars by forming its own police department might have been meant to pull taxpayers on board for a political showdown.

But residents, law enforcement and labor unions are rebuking the idea, claiming there's nothing major wrong with the Metropolitan Police Department, and challenging the city study's numbers.

"It's got to be political," said Paul Ruiz, a 30-year city resident whose family members have worked for Metro both before and after consolidation efforts merged the county sheriff's department and city police force in 1973. "There is nothing wrong with Metro, and I don't think you can honestly save money by pulling all of those things apart."

Metro is lashing out at the city's in-house study suggesting savings of upwards of $15 million a year and improved service if deconsolidation of the department occurs.

"If they're going to take half of our employees, not muck with the benefits and improve service, how are they going to save money?" asked Lois Willis, Metro's comptroller.

Willis studied deconsolidation of Metro in the late '70s when she worked in the city's budget department. She said the numbers didn't make sense then and made less sense each time another mayor or politician suggested breaking apart the department ever since.

City officials have not released results of their study, leaving Metro, the county and others to "dispute a shadow" as Willis put it.

Mike Sheldon, the city's director of Detention and Enforcement, said he would first release the study to City Manager Virginia Valentine, who is on vacation until Monday.

"We have some leanings," Sheldon said. "Obviously the first thing I want to do once we finish the findings is share my results with my city manager."

But labor unions and Metro aren't waiting for the ink to dry.

On Tuesday, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association Metro, Inc., voted to spend $25,000 fighting deconsolidation.

"Our initial impression is that Metro is going to be split, and officers are going to lose jobs and benefits," said John Dean Harper, chief general counsel for the 2,200-member police union.

The Nevada AFL-CIO passed a resolution at its state convention Monday in Las Vegas supporting the police union's efforts.

The resolution declares its concerns over breaking up a force that is "one of the best police departments in the country."

Councilman Michael McDonald, who leaked the study last week, has not returned phone calls seeking comment this week.

Mayor Oscar Goodman, who has requested a financial examination of all city departments, has not seen any of the study's results, he said this morning.

"Of course as a matter of general principle people are always afraid of change," Goodman said. "I haven't seen any reports yet to determine whether we should go forward."

Goodman met this morning with Sheriff Jerry Keller to discuss the issue and claims the two left each other amicably with handshakes.

But Goodman said that although he has no knowledge of the city's study, he cannot comment on why that information apparently has been given to other council members, including McDonald.

"Unless I see something myself personally, I don't know," Goodman said, responding to a question about McDonald leaking the information.

Sources tell the Sun that McDonald is touting the plan as his own and has told representatives of Metro's civilian police union that the city would take half of Metro's personnel under his deconsolidation plan.

But Willis said she can't see how the the city's proposed police force could save money.

If the city used the model of two officers per 1,000 residents, she said, 900 cops would be needed to staff the new department. With an average salary and benefits package of $80,000 per officer, Willis said, the force would cost the city $72 million.

The city's Detention and Enforcement division currently has 300 employees, but only 48 of them are deputy marshals with specific police duties. The city's marshal budget is $4 million.

If the cost of labor for a new city force were thus $68 million, it would be just $5 million less than the $73 million currently spent to fund Metro.

And that, Willis said, is without equipment, dispatchers, civilian employees, new uniforms and taking over lawsuits filed against Metro.

"The numbers don't work," Willis said.

When Metro was formed, it took five years of study from 1968 until 1973. Deconsolidating by July 1, 2000 -- the start of the next fiscal year -- we be even costlier, sources say.

Former Gov. Bob Miller released a statement Tuesday calling the proposed deconsolidation a "disservice to the men and women of Metro and the public at large."

"The suggestion to deconsolidate Metro is one of the dumbest ideas that I have heard in my 25 years of public service," Miller said.

A city-commissioned audit of the department, released in March, also found no reason to support deconsolidation. The independent study by DMG-Maximus found Metro to be one of the best run departments nationwide.

City officials, however, remain confident their study will show "real savings."

Finance Director Mark Vincent said the city's tax rate would certainly go down if deconsolidation occurred.

Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald even said the decision could go down in history as one of the greatest public policy achievements ever.

Deconsolidation would require only a majority council vote. In addition to Boggs McDonald and McDonald, Councilmen Gary Reese and Larry Brown said they would support the move if the savings were real.

But all agreed one of the major reasons underlying the move is greater accountability.

"Is there more accountability with a city-run department?" asked Sheldon, who is being considered by McDonald to be chief of the city department.

Boggs McDonald questioned why Las Vegas, with close to 500,000 residents, wouldn't have its own police force like similar-sized cities Portland and Austin, Texas.

But Willis said Portland, Austin, Denver and Seattle all pay more than $101 million a year for their police service.