Metro puts boots on ground to keep crime off streets

By Jackie Valley

Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011 | 2 a.m.

A glimpse down Fremont Street on a busy night might seem like a recipe for disorder to the untrained eye: gaggles of tourists, free-flowing booze, loud music and multiple superheroes and villains vying for quick bucks.

But as Metro Police Officers Bryce Jones and Rachel Calderon stroll the Fremont Street Experience area, they mostly see people having a good time and staying out of trouble.

“You get more questions like that — ‘Where’s a good place to eat?’ ” Calderon says after hunching to hear a tourist’s inquiry.

They’re patrolling the street as part of the Crime Free Corridor initiative, a Metro program formed almost a year ago aimed at quelling crime in the tourist-heavy Fremont Street Experience area and outlying streets, bound by Ogden Avenue to the north and Carson Avenue to the south.

The program calls for round-the-clock police presence — officers working in pairs in each of two core areas — in addition to the bike and patrol officers cruising the region.

The first core area stretches from Main Street on the west to Las Vegas Boulevard on the east and encompasses the casino corridor and revitalized bar scene of Fremont East District.

The second core area covers Las Vegas Boulevard on the west to Bruce Street on the east — an area prone to drug deals, robberies and prostitution that police want to curb and keep away from the tourist sector.

“If we can be in an area and be visible, that’s probably going to deter 95 percent of the crime with our presence,” Jones says while scanning the crowd.

Police say the drop in crime numbers is evidence that this boots-on-the-ground strategy is working. Violent crime in Metro’s downtown area command, which includes the core areas, is down 20.1 percent through Aug. 7 compared with the same year-to-date period last year. Property crimes dropped 14.7 percent during that time.

Robberies and gun assaults, subsets in the violent crime category, were down 24 percent and 27.3 percent, respectively, compared with last year, according to Metro data. Sexual assaults, however, increased by 10.6 percent in that period.

Police view the Crime Free Corridor approach, which also includes more communication with business owners and casinos, as a way to keep crime on a downward trend, especially in a city relying on tourists feeling safe and welcome.

“Crimewise, it’s gone down dramatically,” Jones said of the Fremont area. “Seven years ago when I came on, it was not uncommon to find a guy dealing drugs in the open.”

Jones credits the overhaul of the Fremont East District, where popular hangouts such as the Griffin and Insert Coin(s) reside, with helping deter crime. An array of liquor and convenience stores and check-cashing businesses dotted that landscape eight to 10 years ago.

“Now that they’re starting to develop, it brings a little more of a legitimate customer to that area,” he says.

Police say the program’s success may trigger similar enforcement methods across the city. Downtown Area Command Capt. Michael Dalley is researching whether the approach might benefit the area from Oakey Boulevard to Sahara Avenue, which includes the Stratosphere.

Jones and Calderon say they sometimes feel like glorified tour guides when walking through the Fremont Street Experience and answering questions such as “How do we get back to the Strip?”

But they’re happy to help confused tourists, they say.

“It’s definitely nice to talk to people,” Jones says.

Besides, tourists — and even street performers — aren’t their main concern. Locals, many of whom walk from nearby housing, cause the most problems, police say.

“I don’t think I’ve had a negative run-in with a tourist the whole time this program has been going,” Jones says.

Many of the issues with locals involve alcohol consumption and subsequent disorderly conduct. A fight between two people can grow to 10 people when friends join.

It’s that type of behavior Jones and Calderon are looking for as they sweep east in the Fremont Street Experience, passing dancing tourists, showgirls, gladiators, Spider-Man and a Chippendale-type dancer. Across from one stage, they spot a man passed out on an oversized flowerpot.

They nudge him awake and talk to him briefly before sending him on his way.

“It’s more of a landscaping type of thing,” Jones says about making the man leave. “This and the Strip are the lifeblood of the city.”

The officers continue west on the street, stopping near a band blasting music from a stage outside the Golden Gate. A man donning a black cowboy ensemble shimmies to the music as others congregate nearby.

Calderon and Jones recognize the man — another benefit of the Crime Free Corridor, they say. Their daily presence allows them to become familiar with locals and casino workers, including security employees.

Suddenly, Calderon darts across the walkway toward a man waving his arms and stepping onto Main Street. She catches up to him and pulls him aside.

The man admits to drinking and then arguing with his girlfriend, which led to a breakup. He says he wanted to jump in front of traffic.

Calderon and Jones detain the man despite his pleas otherwise until medical help arrives.

“We’re not trying to arrest you,” Jones reassures him. “We’re just trying to make sure you’re OK.”

Afterward, Calderon and Jones start making their way back the opposite direction. Same scene, different tourists and superheroes.