Editorial: More cops could help dent crime

Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003 | 9:08 a.m.

The news from Washington regarding local and national crime statistics came as a jolt for Las Vegas residents. According to the FBI, which compiled the statistics, violent crime (murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault) on the national level went down nearly 1 percent in 2002. The same report, however, showed that violent crime for 2002 within the jurisdiction of Metro Police increased -- by 19 percent. This is a comparison that should have every concerned resident of Las Vegas and Clark County (Metro's jurisdiction) asking: What is going on? What can be done?

Unfortunately, the statistics, contained in the FBI's Uniform Crime Report released this week, are not dropping. If they were, we could take some small comfort in saying that maybe 2002 was just a bad year. Metro Police, however, reports that through August of this year, violent crime statistics are up another 3 percent over the already high numbers from 2002.

Fortunately, violent crime statistics in the Las Vegas Valley's other police jurisdictions were down. In Boulder City they were down 9 percent, in Henderson 13 percent and in North Las Vegas 4 percent. This does not diminish the level of concern that should be raised about the increase within Metro's jurisdiction, however.

Raw incident statistics alone are not sufficient to make judgment calls about the quality of policing. It would not be accurate, for example, to say that Henderson, with about 1.1 police officers per 1,000 residents, is doing a better job than Metro, which has 1.74 officers per 1,000. Factors such as population, population density, income levels, the number of gangs, the number of tourists, the extent of drug dealing and usage, the concentrations of nightclubs, the numbers of people in abusive relationships and other factors all have a large bearing on crime statistics.

Incident statistics can, however, by themselves reveal patterns and problems that require attention. Certainly, the increasing violent crime within Metro's jurisdiction calls for solutions. We have not heard a better solution than the one proposed by Sheriff Bill Young. He is campaigning for a property tax increase so that he can increase the number of Metro Police officers. With gangs, drugs, population density, heavy tourism, poverty and domestic violence all major factors within the million-plus population policed by Metro, it's evident that more officers are needed.