School police step up anti-gang efforts

Terry Webster

Monday, March 26, 2001 | 11:22 a.m.

Clark County School District police are increasing efforts to protect schools and students in neighborhoods riddled by gang violence.

School police are working with local police agencies and sharing information to help keep the violence from spilling onto school campuses.

"There are a lot of things we can do," Elliott Phelps, chief of the school district's police force, said. "For example, if several known gang members are absent from school on the same day, there is a chance that there is going to be a problem. We can find this out through attendance records. Then we can put everybody on alert."

For the most part, Phelps said, the presence of school police on campuses has warded off serious problems.

"Everyone knows that the handcuffs are just a couple of minutes away," he said of the district's fully armed police force.

But Phelps stressed that police alone cannot prevent crime. Input from students and parents is vital in avoiding violent outbreaks on school campuses.

"We have to really listen to what the students are telling us," he said.

Students who walk to school are another concern, Phelps said.

"The U.S. Department of Education has found that a lot of truancies are caused by students who fear they will not get to school safely," he said.

School police efforts to reach into the community will expand under the district's reorganization plan, set to take effect July 1, Phelps said.

The reorganization involves breaking the district into five regions while leaving the overall district intact.

Phelps said he will set up parent advisory panels for the school police in each of the district's new regions.

Although inner-city areas are hardest hit by gang activity, it can become a threat just about anywhere, the school police chief said.

"There are about 13,000 confirmed gang members in this city," he said. "And there is gang activity throughout the city."

School police recently investigated a report of gang activity at Centennial High School, in the city's far northwest corner. The incident involved alleged members of a skinhead gang threatening minority students.

No arrests were made, but school police are monitoring the situation.

The best approach, Phelps said, is to keep lines of communication open.

"Some schools have lost sight of the idea that they are leaders in the community," Phelps said. "They can greatly affect the quality of life in their neighborhoods."