Police plan station in northwest by 2004

Dan Kulin

Thursday, Feb. 6, 2003 | 9:54 a.m.

The North Las Vegas Police Department is following the population explosion north with plans to open a new police precinct station in the northwest part of the city in June 2004.

The $5.1 million building is to be on vacant city-owned property at the corner of Washburn and Allen and a third of the city's police force will be based out of it.

Mayor Michael Montandon said 10 years ago there were only a couple of residential developments near there, but now the area is teeming with new homes and many more are under construction.

Police Chief Mark Paresi said the area is probably the fastest-growing part of the city.

The new police station should lead to faster police response times citywide, because officers will generally be responding to calls closer to where they are stationed, Paresi said.

The chief also said he hopes to someday build another police station in the northeast part of the city. Exactly when plans for another station take off will depend on the pace of development in that part of the city, he said.

"We're trying to position ourselves for growth," Paresi said.

The new police station at Washburn and Allen will be the police department's first major facility outside of the downtown police headquarters.

"This will be the first of its kind in North Las Vegas," Lt. Victor Dunn, who is overseeing the design and construction of the new facility, said.

Initially 70 to 80 officers will work out of the new precinct station, Dunn said. The city currently has about 220 police officers.

While the northwest precinct station has been in the planning stages for well over a year, the station took a big step toward becoming a reality Wednesday when the City Council unanimously approved issuing bonds to pay for the new facility.

"Tonight's the final step as far as financing the thing," the mayor said Wednesday.

The council approved the issuance of $32.5 million in bonds, $5.1 million of which will pay for the new police facility. The rest of the money, plus $2.5 million in bonds issued last year, will pay for the long-planned new city courthouse.

The $29.9 million courthouse, also expected to be completed in 2004, will be built near North Las Vegas' City Hall on city-owned property at Civic Center Drive and Las Vegas Boulevard.