Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Good cop wins big one

Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2000 | 9:56 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

"This is a robbery, get on the floor," is what the patrons of Mr. D's sports bar heard at 1:20 a.m. on Dec. 5. So everybody stretched out on the floor as three or four gun-firing robbers took their valuables and found the identification of several off-duty Metro officers. The thugs, now realizing who they had in their control, started the execution of the unarmed officers and anybody who moved.

Well, that's not what happened. One of the officers in the bar was carrying a .25-caliber handgun and he stepped forward to take on gunman Emilio Rodriguez, who was firing a large .40 caliber weapon. Toe-to-toe was the exchange of gunfire with officer Dennis Devitte and Rodriguez both being hit eight times. Devitte, the hero, was crippled and Rodriguez, the thug, was dead.

A coroner's jury of local citizens, after several hours of testimony, took 18 minutes to rule the killing of Rodriguez justified and some of the gunman's friends and relatives whined. They thought Devitte should have stretched out on the floor and put his life and the lives of all present in the hands of the masked gunman shooting up the bar. Sure, and then Rodriguez could still be loose with his pals holding up other citizens and endangering the lives of more Nevadans. As it is, there are still at least two, if not three, of them running free with their weapons.

Dennis Devitte is a Metro Police veteran of almost 20 years and should be awarded the honor of Distinguished Nevadan by the University of Nevada Board of Regents at the next graduation exercises. His service has been above the call of duty and is of the highest quality.

There is still some hope for the Spring Valley residents opposing a new hotel-casino. If the added power given the Gaming Policy Committee by the Sixty-Ninth Session of the Nevada Legislature holds up, and the facts presented by the residents are sufficient, a review panel can reverse the Clark County Commission vote approving the casino. Of course, the losers can challenge the decision in court.

Sen. Mark James of Las Vegas, in hopes of protecting neighborhoods from unwanted casinos, added the appeal process to a review panel of the GPC. Before this addition the committee had only advisory and recommending powers.

In the past the real value of the GPC was its ability to hold hearings and make decisions that recommend policy and legislative changes to be considered by the regulators and the Legislature. Several years have passed since it has been used as a tool of change. During the 1970s it was used to change regulations that had forbidden the use of telephones to make a legal bet. It also recommended to the 1979 Legislature that Gaming Control Board and Gaming Commission members sit out a year after leaving their state positions and before being employed by the gambling industry. This recommendation was ignored in 1979 and it took eight more years before it was finally passed.

No matter what the outcome of the Spring Valley appeal, you can bet the basic law pertaining to neighborhood casinos will be worked over in the next Legislature.

Last week I wrote about the recruiting and retention problems facing our military forces. Within a matter of hours after it went on the Internet an e-mail arrived from across the country. The writer, an active-duty army colonel, was born and educated in Clark County schools and at UNR. His comments are worth publishing.

"... Another reason is the fact that young men are no longer being challenged, and it is no longer an honor to have met with the rigors of basic training. This is directly due to coed basic training. You cannot challenge the young men by lowering the physical standards to admit the women.

"It used to be a sort of pride thing that you had passed this training, now so what -- anybody can do it. And I have talked to lots of young enlistees who say they are not staying in because of the lack of a challenge. You talk to any soldier that's worth having and they want to be challenged, they want to be proud that they have accomplished something that is difficult.

"There are still some challenging courses but they are not open to every MOS (specialty). A couple of reasons the Marine Corps meets their recruiting goals is that it still means something to graduate from their boot; of course it is still single sex and thus can be challenging to both male and female recruits. ..."