Park police, Metro merger eyed

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2004 | 11:15 a.m.

Clark County officials have asked Metro Police to consider a proposal that would merge the county's park police officers into Metro.

County Manager Thom Reilly said that making the county's 18 park officers a part of Metro would streamline services and reduce costs.

"I'm hoping there will be some economies of scale in training and administration," he said.

Reilly said he and Sheriff Bill Young have been discussing the idea over the past few months. Reilly formally requested that the sheriff consider the proposal in a recent letter.

The county spends about $1 million a year on park police officer salaries, Reilly said. If the two agencies merged, the county would still pay the salaries, but the county would save money in terms of training and other administrative expenses.

Young has "expressed a willingness to explore it," Reilly said.

Undersheriff Doug Gillespie said Metro officials will be weighing the pros and cons of the idea within the next 30 days.

"We're not saying yes and we're not saying no," he said.

One of the things they will be evaluating is whether Metro will benefit from such a move.

Metro, which has about 2,000 officers, already works with park police on a regular basis, Reilly said. Park police investigate crimes that occur in the county's 45 urban and nine rural parks and sometimes ask Metro for assistance in handling serious crimes because the larger agency has more specialized experience and resources.

"If a crime occurs in a park, they do interface with Metro," Reilly said. "This would bring a lot more continuity and consistency in handling those issues."