More police, civilian workers wanted

Jen Lawson

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2002 | 11:05 a.m.

The Las Vegas Valley needs more cops, and Metro Police wants voters to approve a tax increase to pay for it.

Sheriff-elect Bill Young said Monday the department will request permission from the Nevada Legislature to put a question on a ballot that would seek to raise property taxes to pay for 297 more police officers.

The earliest that the question would go before voters would be 2004, Young said.

"You have to be a visionary and accurately predict where you're going to be years from now," Young said.

Metro officials said that means adding civilian employees as well as officers. Metro needs 116 more civilian employees, including 28 people to work in the 911 center, officials said.

Sheriff Jerry Keller paved the way for Young's expansion request by telling the Fiscal Affairs Committee on Monday that Young plans to go to the state legislature next year.

If the economy improves, Metro may choose not to put the question on the ballot, Young said. He said he is approaching the legislature as a precaution.

Clark County's population grew by about 90,000 people from 2000 to 2001 and the rapid growth is expected to continue, according to U.S. Census estimates. But the increased need for service that comes with the population expansion is outpacing the growth of Metro, officials said.

As of Oct. 31, Metro had 1,941 sworn officers, and that translated to a ratio of 1.73 officers for every 1,000 Clark County residents, officials said. The national ratio is 2.7 officers for every 1,000 people, they said.

Young said putting more cops on the street is his top priority. His goal is to raise the ratio to 1.97 officers per 1,000 residents.

"I made a committment to put more black-and-whites on the street and I plan to do that aggressively," he said.

Metro is funded by city and county government, but the department needs more money than those sources can provide, Undersheriff Richard Winget said.

"The city and county governments are facing difficult financial times," he said. "Both are supportive of public safety, but there are limits as to what they can do."

It is too early to tell how much money Metro would need to hire 413 people, or how much it could cost taxpayers, said Leslie Doak, Metro's budget director.

A new police officer costs Metro about $58,000 for salary, benefits and equipment during the officer's first year, officials said. So at that rate, the additional officers alone would cost $17.23 million.

Just finding 297 quality police officers could be a challenge that will take some time, however, because Metro subjects candidates to a background check, psychological screening, written tests, oral examination and a decison-making test. The department won't let their hiring standards drop in order to fill the positions, Winget said.

Winget said Metro "learned a dramatic lesson" in 1996, when Ron Mortenson, an officer assigned to the southwest region, committed a drive-by shooting and killed a 21-year-old man. Metro's staffing problems have the potential to affect residents as well as the city's tourism industry, Young said. If tourists believe Las Vegas has a high crime rate, they won't visit, which could hurt the local economy.

Winget said residents would feel the the pinch of understaffing most when calling 911.

"The response time to 911 calls isn't as quick as we expect them to be," he said. "We are required to prioritize calls, and that means some things get diverted."

Calls are answered within the national standard of 10 seconds only 65 percent of the time.

Metro puts civilians in non-law enforcement positions in order to save money, Young said.

"We don't have police officers answering phones or working in our supply bureau," he said. "It makes good business sense."

Metro has put funding issues on the ballot in the past with mixed results.

Most recently, voters approved a ballot question in 1996 that increased property taxes by $70 on a $100,000 home to pay for 450 additional officers.

Using those funds, Metro has been adding an average of 50 officers per year since 1996, Winget said.

In 1988, voters agreed to a property tax increase to raise $12.5 million for 200 more officers. The increase was structured so it rose 2 cents a year per $100 of assessed valuation for five years. That tax is still in place today.

But in 1993, voters soundly rejected a similar bid by Metro for 300 new officers.

"I think it's fair to go to the voters and ask what's important to them, and if they're willing to pay a few more dollars for law enforcement," Young said. "There's nothing like giving the power to the voters."