Wednesday, March 2, 2005 | 9:08 a.m.
In light of the need, we believe the 2005-2006 budget sought by Metro Police is reasonable and worthy of being approved. Sheriff Bill Young is asking for an increase of 11.7 percent for his department, which is jointly funded by the city of Las Vegas and Clark County.
If the city and county approve the budget as requested, many services such as the 911 emergency dispatches could be improved. Also, Young would be able to hire an additional 59 police officers. The hires would mean that Metro would have 1.8 officers for every 1,000 people in its jurisdiction. Young's ultimate goal is 2 officers per 1,000 -- a staffing level in line with the national average for police departments.
To achieve that goal, Young will need the Legislature to approve what the people of Southern Nevada have already approved at the ballot -- a sales tax increase that would provide the money needed to hire an additional 1,200 officers over the next 10 years. With approval of his new budget, and approval of the sales tax increase, Young would likely accomplish his goal of greatly improving public safety.
We strongly urge the Legislature, the county and the city to support Young's goal.
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