Commitment to fighting crime strong in weak economy

Doug Gillespie

Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Crime fighting in the midst of a recession is not an easy task. It has been suggested that because of hardships such as the tightening of economic opportunities, increased unemployment and diminishing social services, people can be pushed into desperate situations where they are driven to commit crime.

Certainly, the past 18 months have been a real economic challenge to the Las Vegas community. Like you, we are doing more with less and, obviously, this is not an easy task.

However, to blame the economic downturn would be bad policy. Such an outlook can be dangerous and potentially lead to a minimalist approach by a public service agency in looking for solutions in addressing crime.

In terms of developing responses, the focus for police services in periods of dwindling funding is to attempt to provide more with less. Jurisdictions that have the most success must look beyond just maintaining the status quo; we must look to change and adapt in an effort to improve upon tactics in combating crime.

Collaboratively, through investments in partnerships with the community — such as Operation Safe Village, in which neighborhood groups work to reduce gun violence — we have to continue moving toward our vision to be the safest community in America. This statement is not just an expression but a clear road map for reducing crime and making our streets safer.

To gauge our efforts in obtaining this vision, we have to look at measurable performance. We have to analyze crime daily, coordinate the exchange of information, and develop tactics that are pinpoint specific in addressing problems.

Rest assured, Metro is at the top of the ladder in new crime-fighting techniques. From where I stand, I believe communities that truly care about the safety of their neighborhoods and look to solve complex problems have the greatest success.

The numbers provide the bottom line. Fighting crime is a huge responsibility and with this responsibility comes accountability. Crime statistics tell us where we’re at, especially in terms of major crimes including homicide, robbery, sexual assault, burglary, theft and vehicle theft.

So far this year, major crime statistics are collectively down 10 percent from 2008. Major crimes compared with 2004 are down 28 percent. Traffic safety has made some giant steps; fatal accidents are down 35 percent from 2004. Clearly, we have made our busy streets safer.

The work ethic, enthusiasm and sense of duty displayed by the fine men and women of law enforcement have produced results, making our community a safer place to live. Their demonstrated efforts deserve recognition and applause. Though I am pleased with the progress we have made, I know we can do even better.

From my 28 years of experience, I do know this: The more cops on the street, visibly policing our community, the less opportunity for criminals. Those who would cause harm in our society are deterred by the presence of a police officer.

Without a doubt, the More Cops Sales Tax Initiative positively affected our community. Metro has hired all 600 police officers promised when we asked voters to approve our ballot initiative. Although the second quarter-cent sales tax was not authorized in this past legislative session, we plan to return to the state Legislature in 2011 to get funding for those positions, which were voter-approved.

Today, the duties of local law enforcement also include the extremely demanding job of preventing and disrupting terror. Our profession is more focused than ever on our commitment to homeland security, but this is not without diverting resources to meet an ever-increasing threat.

To this end, it is extremely important we maintain our staffing levels to ensure we meet our goals. We certainly must hold the line in keeping those offenders who are the most dangerous and most prolific off the streets by housing them in a jail or prison setting.

It is predictable the economy will have a continual effect on our mission — to protect the community through prevention, partnership and professional service. Yet, with this said, we do have control over how we respond to such problems. No one person will have all the answers. To be successful, we will continue our collaborative efforts to find solutions by using all the latest crime-fighting techniques.