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Monday, March 15, 2010 | 2 a.m.
A man in a clown suit, dancing in the middle of the road, obstructing traffic — just another call police patrolling Metro’s Downtown Area Command responded to on a recent Friday afternoon.
A fight between friends that ended with one shot in the face — another call that came in over the radio, shortly after the dancing clown.
Bouncing between wildly different calls is business as usual for cops working downtown Las Vegas — a symptom of the place, which is varied as its people, and the crimes they sometimes commit.
There are no sprawling stucco developments downtown. This is the area’s appeal, and sometimes its burden. The dingy motels, the aging industrial stretches, the homeless and nearly homeless people who make up certain segments of downtown — all can read “dangerous” to tourists and locals alike.
And, like it or not, this isn’t all wrong. There are parts of downtown where poverty and drugs beget crimes of opportunity: street-level muggings and beatings. But — and this is important — these police “hot spots” are areas you would avoid anyway. Who really wants to stroll dark, narrow alleys that wind behind boarded-up houses? Who wants to spend their weekend standing in a dirt lot with no streetlights, or hanging out in a convenience store parking lot next to a shuttered muffler-repair shop?
No, the truth about crime downtown is that it’s contained, in a way. It’s poor people victimizing poorer people in their own back yards. It’s the kind of things tourists on Fremont Street, or locals milling around First Friday, just don’t rub shoulders with — like the call that came over the radio just as the monthly arts event started last week: a six-person fight in a dilapidated apartment complex. By the time officers arrived, the fight was over, and nobody wanted to press charges.
Officer Erik Janecek of Metro's Downtown Area Command unit argues with a woman in his squad car that he arrested for having a felony warrant near Las Vegas Bouldvard and Charleston Avenue in downtown Las Vegas Friday, March 5, 2010.
Officer Erik Janecek patrols four nights a week in downtown Las Vegas. He keeps largely within an eight-mile radius, a small square that has put him on a first-name basis with several interesting and occasionally arrestable characters. In a matter of hours on this Friday, Janecek arrested a woman with an outstanding felony warrant, did a welfare check on a man with Alzheimer’s, checked on a suspicious person loitering in someone’s driveway, had a truck towed, took a report on juveniles trying to steal a car, checked on a fighting married couple and sent home a bunch of teenagers partying in an empty building, among other calls.
While Janecek patrols, police interdiction teams focus on specialized problems, which are themselves revealing of the crime picture downtown: drugs, prostitution, gangs. Working this way, downtown crime dropped 8 percent in 2009, Metro Police say, while robberies fell 3 percent. Of course, these statistics wars are won in the shadows and seedy pockets of downtown — places where people seldom know about police efforts, for better or worse.
Officer Erik Janecek of Metro's Downtown Area Command Unit listens to a man named "Teardrop."
Toward the end of his shift, Janecek is called to check on a man named Teardrop, beaten beyond swollen and so wobbly he can hardly stand. Teardrop’s friends say they found him outside, moaning. But Teardrop says he doesn’t know what happened, doesn’t want to press charges. He has an extensive arrest record for drugs, domestic violence and theft — his silence is chalked up as part of the same old downtown spin cycle: perpetrator today, victim tomorrow. After begging off an ambulance ride, Teardrop stumbles home.
Not too far away, hundreds of people are standing motionless, staring at the ceiling of the Fremont Street Experience. Others are walking to the Beauty Bar. Teenagers are standing in packs outside downtown art galleries. A bunch of frat guys are pouring out of a Mexican restaurant. All of them look happy and amused. None of them will ever run into Teardrop.
This story appears in the current issue of Las Vegas Weekly, a sister publication of the Sun.
Office Janecek has my respect.
He works in a Stephen King novel.
Be careful out there!!!
Beautiful intro into what should be a much longer piece about how law enforcement handles this area of LV. How do they feel about the never ending cycle? Do they feel like they're wasting their time? Do they want more officers to help them? Do they want a concerted effort to clean the area up? How does this beat affect the officers' personal lives? Glad to see crime down 9% - but I'd like to know what the largest drop of that 9% is. Drugs? Beatings? Domestic violence? Burglaries? Theft? I'd love to read more...
link to lvweekly story;
http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2010/...
"No, the truth about crime downtown is that it's contained, in a way. It's poor people victimizing poorer people in their own back yards."
"All of them look happy and amused. None of them will ever run into Teardrop."
What a crock! Since January I know of two people (one an artist and the other a journalist) who've been beaten while walking from the venues mentioned in the article.
Gee I wonder if the MSNBC show about Las Vegas Violence yesterday had anything to do with the writing of this article.
For those of you that didn't see it all I can say is you missed out on some good footage that really showed the stuff Metro deals with on a day to day basis and the operations there running that you never hear about.
The Metro Police are doing allot of work to nail these idiots and there doing a good job of it.
We really need to start regulating who can and who can't have kids because these scumbags are just steadily creating more scumbags and there spending the welfare money on dope while there pregnant with the next future scumbag.
And were all paying there way with our Tax's and all our property they steel.
Great story . I don't know if I could deal with the bs these cops have to on a daily basis.
Caption under pic states: "Officer Erik Janecek of Metro's Downtown Area Command unit argues with a woman in his squad car that he arrested for having a felony warrant......"
I believe you have this backwards...she was probably arguing with the officer and he was having to explain to her for the umteenth time why she has found herself in the back of a squad car. Hats off to this officer.
Abigail, did you mean Janecek keeps within an 8 *block* radius? An 8 mile radius is a little over 200 square miles.
Bad boys, bad boys.. whatchagonna do? whatchagonna do when de come for you?
Call it a paid babysitting job that Metro has...
Those cops that have regular areas they patrol probably know alot of these people they deal with on a first name basis....
And dealing with all those that have been through the prison system that live to find out how far they can push the cops and legal system...
I'm surprised that the cop car doesn't have a divider between the front and back . Judjing by her looks,anyone want to venture on what she was picked up on ;-) ?
They don't call it Naked City for nothing. In 1963 it was populated mainly by showgirls that used to sunbathe in the raw so as not to get tan lines. I loved that neighborhood! Now it's just a ghetto.
I have seen some of those meth and crack heads downtown,no teeth,bone pile and dirty.They have alot of energy dancing around the free concerts.
I have to say between the police,under cover and
casino people keeps the crime down.
Keep Downtown Safe.
Well written article that shows what Officers deal with on a daily basis. Thanks to Metro for your hard work. Now lets compare the daily duties of a downtown Police Officer with that of a fireman who sits around 95% of the time, does some cooking, and takes a lot of sick leave. You can't! The public knows who the heros are. Firefighters are over paid and need to be paid what they are worth -- a lot less.
It looks like someone stole Rizzo1970 education. Rizzo, your lack of grammer and spelling skills puts you under the class that most people refer to as an uneducated SCUMBAG.
To Hermit: You should probably check your own spelling skills before you insult anyone else's! G-R-A-M-M-A-R!!!!
hermit
THAT IS JUST CLASSIC!
calling out someone when you cant even spell yourself
thx RC2010
ROFL
peace out
Not to pile on here, Hermit, but you just made a complete fool of yourself on the world wide web; it's "GRAMMAR", you moron.
Congratulations.
That woman in back of the patrol car arguing with the officer... I believe is actually the guy in the clown suit that was dancing in the middle of the road.
I noticed the article stating the officer took a report on two juveniles trying to steal a car....Perhaps it was Mr. Bulah's car and those two juveniles certainly didn't get very far.
Love the caption, but I'm sure the Officer didn't really arrest his squad car for having a felony warrant...even though that is what it says... and Las Vegas "Bouldvard".... really?
"Officer Erik Janecek of Metro's Downtown Area Command unit argues with a woman in his squad car that he arrested for having a felony warrant near Las Vegas Bouldvard and Charleston Avenue in downtown Las Vegas Friday, March 5, 2010."