Audit urges city to spend $40,000 to improve police programs

Sunday, Jan. 16, 2000 | 9:52 a.m.

North Las Vegas should spend $40,000 to improve its police recruitment and training programs in addition to hiring more personnel to handle official paperwork, according to an audit released this week.

Although the audit points out the law enforcement agency's weaknesses, it also highlights what the department is doing right. The department operates well with less managerial staff than that of other medium to large policing agencies, says the audit by Hughes, Perry & Associates.

One hundred seventy-five sworn-in employees work for the department. Of those, 17.7 percent are the rank of sergeant or higher. The percentage of supervisory positions in a department of comparable size usually is 20 percent to 24 percent.

The police audit is the third independent evaluation the city has authorized in the past year. Two previous audits separately examined the city's detention services and the managerial and organizational functions of all administrative and public service divisions.