Shortage of police leaves some residents waiting for help

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, March 30, 2000 | 11:03 a.m.

North Las Vegas resident Josephine Bryant stepped outside her home last week and to her dismay saw black paint splattered along her side walls and patio -- again.

By the tiny pieces of glass littering the yard, she could tell teens were using colorful Christmas tree bulbs filled with paint as their weapons.

At the last North Las Vegas City Council meeting, she told the members about her frustration and about the lack of effort she believes the North Las Vegas Police Department is showing in patrolling her neighborhood and responding to her complaints.

Following her speech, two more residents from different neighborhoods took the dais with similar concerns.

While it is true that the police department is understaffed, evidenced by a recent audit, the residents say police should be more actively patrolling neighborhoods.

Police department officials say they are souping up their recruitment efforts and are trying to keep up with the city's growth as best they can.

Bryant, who has lived off Lone Mountain Road and Clayton Street for four years, says she calls the police department continually about the 12 to 13 teens who run together in her neighborhood.

"Tuesday night I heard a noise outside and I said, 'Probably those kids again.' I walked out of the garage and this kid was coming over the fence," she told the Sun last week. "I told him, 'If you come over here again I'll break your leg.' "

The police, she said, took 45 minutes to arrive and when she called them two weeks before for a similar disturbance, it took them more than an hour.

"You don't ever see a cop in our neighborhood. They're lousy and they just don't do the work," she said.

Another resident who spoke at the public hearing, who asked not to be named by the Sun, said although he lives three minutes away from the police department headquarters, officers don't respond to his calls for service in a timely manner.

The resident of 41 years told the council, "My frustration is when you call, you get no response. If you talk to them, they say, 'We go by priority.' Well, they can use that excuse for so long."

Part of the problem is keeping up with the rapid growth in North Las Vegas. Because there is only one police station, on Lake Mead Boulevard and Bruce Street, all 180 officers are stuck patrolling 76 square miles, from end to end.

"It really is a difficult problem. Our city has grown by leaps and bounds," spokesman Lt. Chris Larotonda said. "We're 76 square miles now, and we only have one station so everybody comes from here."

Getting where the officers need to be in a timely manner -- when traffic is light -- could mean a 15- to 20-minute response time from base headquarters to the northwest part of the city. During rush hour, that's a completely different story.

"We can't be everywhere at one time. They (officers) are in fact out there. Whether you see them or not is a different story," Larotonda said.

The police department needs time to catch up with the growth, Larotonda said, given the amount of time it takes to get a new officer on the streets.

Once an application is dropped off, it takes the department 30 to 45 days to conduct interviews and a thorough background investigation. Applicants who qualify for the academy will remain in the program for three months. Only one-third of the cadets graduate, Larotonda said. And those who do pass are put into field training for another three to four months.

"If you hired 50 guys today, you would have 50 guys in training," Larotonda said. "There are ways to streamline that ... but we don't want to cut corners and I don't think anyone wants a poor-quality officer on the streets."

Larotonda said the department has added 46 officers since 1995. That includes seven officers who graduated from last month's academy. Ten more are scheduled to take part in next month's program.

An audit conducted by Hughes, Perry and Associates in November suggested that the department consider adopting a community-oriented policing program to help with the overload.

Larotonda has headed a committee to look into the idea and bring suggestions to the chief of police. But the matter is complicated, he says, because the department may not have the resources to adequately start the program.

"The problem with community-oriented policing is it has the word 'policing' in it. Everyone thinks that's a cop job," he said. "What it really is is citywide from streets and sewers to lighting and garbage pickup. Every facet of a city should be involved."

Meanwhile, officers are testing a new way to spend more time in the field by downloading their reports via radio frequencies with laptop computers. Although the program is still in its testing phase, the hope is that officers will save time because they won't have to drive back to headquarters to file their reports.

Councilwoman Shari Buck said any time residents come out to meetings with concerns the council listens.

"We have an obligation to provide public safety and make sure the police department has what they need to provide public safety," she said. "We have an obligation to make sure the residents feel safe and are safe, and are being responded to in a timely manner."

She said the council is looking into building a police substation in the city's new growth area, north of Cheyenne Avenue. The city owns land throughout the city, including at Washburn Road and Allen Lane, which is being considered as a site, she said.

Regarding a possible substation, Larotonda said, "We have given everyone facts and figures of what it would cost -- that's been given. I don't know where that is in the big scheme. It all boils down to money."

While Larotonda said he is sympathetic to residents not wanting to be put on priority status, he said it's necessary to handle the flow of calls.

"You have a lot of burglary reports, 'see the man' calls, all those calls have to be answered," he said. "Throw in calls for help, we don't have any choice but to prioritize the call. The more life-threatening it is, the more it bumps it up the list."

Diana Sahagun covers North Las Vegas for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2320 or by e-mail at diana@lasvegassun.com