Mayor seeks street crime crackdown

Diana Sahagun

Wednesday, June 13, 2001 | 10:36 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman knows that for downtown to become a thriving metropolis, the city must invest as much energy in combatting crime as it does in promoting new projects.

Although the potential development of 61 acres downtown has been the hot topic as of late, Goodman is also focusing attention on the efforts of Metro Police; its success in combatting street crimes will weigh heavily in the ultimate vitality of downtown.

Goodman on Monday asked Metro Police Capt. Cliff Davis, head of the downtown area command, to crack down on the types of street crimes that, traditionally, have not been a top priority. These include prostitution, drug dealing and trespassing, which is associated with homelessness.

Goodman said the offenses often fall by the wayside when officers have to deal with more violent crimes. Toward the end of Monday's meeting, however, Davis said he would work with officers to crack down on the street crimes.

"We are not going to be a place that prostitutes and drug dealers are going to want to be," Goodman said.

Goodman said Davis will form a special task force, the focus of which will be on the crimes. He also will meet with the mayor each month to discuss the status of their efforts.

Davis did not return calls for comment Tuesday or this morning.

"I don't want to be a police state, but if we're going to have the kind of vibrancy we want, we have to have the appearance and reality of a safe city," Goodman said.

The city does have an order-out corridor, which allows prostitutes and drug criminals a chance to receive suspended sentences if they promise to stay out of the corridor for as long as one year. If seen in the corridor, however, they will be arrested could face jail time.

Goodman said although the ordinance can be effective, it can also act as a revolving door. Soon after criminals are released from jail, they're right back out on the street, he said.

Although downtown has been perceived as being rampant with crime, a glimmer of hope was evident during last month's anniversary of Campaige Place, an affordable housing complex. Residents of the downtown complex, which is almost 100 percent occupied, said they felt safe as they walked to and from the complex near Stewart Avenue between Eighth and Ninth Streets.

Resident Dick Kietzmann has lived downtown for almost 10 years. He said the Metro officers, who patrol the area surrounding the housing complex, make it safe to venture out at night.

"It's 100 percent different than it used to be, when you had to be scared to leave your home," Kietzmann said. "The area is becoming safer."