Editorial: Great start to Young’s first term

Monday, Jan. 26, 2004 | 8:46 a.m.

Clark County Sheriff Bill Young, in his first year in office, hasn't taken the path followed by many elected officials who prefer to cautiously settle into the job and not make many waves. From the outset Young, who for many years was a street cop before his election as sheriff, has been open-minded and innovative in considering ways to revamp the Metro Police force.

One of the first things he did was re-examine Metro's use-of-force policy. An important result is that Metro's policy now includes guidelines that emphasize verbal skills instead of physical restraint, such as using handcuffs, to get a volatile situation under control. In addition, Metro is training its police officers in potentially more dangerous situations on when to use an electrical stun gun, which can temporarily paralyze a suspect, instead of a handgun.

Young also has made a strong case for more police officers to improve public safety in the valley, especially since crime is on the rise. The percentage of officers for the city of Las Vegas and Clark County is well below the national average of 2.5 officers for every 1,000 residents. Metro has 1.7 officers per 1,000 people for the area it covers, a number that actually will continue to get worse as our population keeps booming. He has noted that Metro answered 3.5 million calls for assistance last year and says that number is expected to grow to 3.8 million this year. Young tried to get more funding to pay for nearly 400 more police officers, but he met resistance from Las Vegas city and Clark County officials that fund Metro. Undaunted, Young now is talking about using a ballot initiative to raise taxes so that he can hire more police officers.

Young, as have other police chiefs from major urban areas, has had to deal with the potential terrorist threats to Las Vegas. In the post-Sept. 11 world, he has been a forceful advocate for making sure Clark County gets its fair share of homeland security funding from the federal government to help defray expenses that are related to national security. So far it appears that the federal government, and the state agency that controls the flow of money, are listening, as recent federal anti-terrorism grants for local law enforcement have increased significantly.

Young has shown he has a complete vision for Metro Police and how it should serve and fit into our community, and it is a vision that we think is a good one. He also is refreshingly forthright, open and candid, qualities that make him a very effective leader, both within and outside the police department. In just a year's time, Sheriff Young has proven that voters were right in selecting him to lead Metro Police.