Metro hopes for calm parade

Jeffrey Libby

Thursday, Jan. 9, 2003 | 9:17 a.m.

After a parade without violence last year, Metro Police say they have assigned fewer officers to Saturday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade through downtown Las Vegas.

A gang-related brawl at the 2001 parade remains a consideration, Metro officers said. But since the first parade in 1981, the event has most often been peaceful, police said, in keeping with King's teachings of resolving social problems and international conflict through nonviolent means.

"We haven't heard of any concerns. We've heard of nothing that is going to occur at the parade," said Lt. Cindy Galindo, of Metro's gang unit.

"There will not be as many officers as last year because there were no incidents and a lot fewer people at the parade."

In the 22 years the parade has been held Metro has recorded only three incidents of significant violence, Galindo said. Close to 30,000 people are expected to attend the parade this year, said by organizers to be the state's largest.

Metro plans to staff the parade as it would any other large event, said Sgt. Tom Page of Metro's Special Events section. The staff includes officers from traffic, patrol, mounted and gang units.

Jared Lewis, director of a Modesto, Calif.-based group called Know Gangs, said large celebrations like July 4, Cinco de Mayo and the Asian New Year often provoke outbursts of gang violence. Martin Luther King Day, is no different, Lewis said.

"Because of past issues and gang mentality, things happen at these events," Lewis said. "If the police didn't have their gang unit out in full force, it would be doing a big disservice."

At the 2001 King Day parade in Las Vegas, a brawl broke out between a half-dozen gang members, said Sgt. Frank De Martino in the detective bureau of the North Las Vegas Police.

Four months later, some of the gang members involved in that fight were indicted in the death of 35-year-old Gwendolyn Jones in a drive-by shooting. Charges were later dropped because of a lack of evidence.

North Las Vegas police continue to investigate the shooting, but De Martino said he does not blame the parade. Instead, he said the brawl was just one part of an ongoing feud.

Lt. Victor Dunn, a spokesman for North Las Vegas Police, agreed.

"It's unfortunate that it happened at the parade, but the same thing could have happened at the mall or a Burger King," Dunn said.

As the first of the 150 parade entries march up Fourth Street on Saturday, Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, the parade's founder, said he will be there promoting peace, not worrying about violence.

"Dr. King promoted peace, and in celebration of his life, the least we can do is have courage," Williams said, adding that the occasional incidents of parade violence pale in comparison to the educational scholarships and seniors programs that the Martin Luther King Day Committee of Las Vegas has established to help improve the community.

"With terrorism throughout the world, with our country basically at war, we'd rather worry about bringing people together on this day," he said. "We welcome anyone who wants to help make Las Vegas a better place, and it can be."