Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Three takeaways from debate between Metro sheriff candidates

Larry Burns and Joe Lombardo

Sun Staff

Clark County sheriff candidates Larry Burns and Joe Lombardo.

Updated Friday, Oct. 24, 2014 | 10 p.m.

Tackling topics that ranged from police union politics to officer shortages, contenders for Metro's powerful sheriff position squared off Friday afternoon for a debate hosted by Vegas PBS.

Moderated by Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Steve Sebelius and political journalist Elizabeth Thompson, the 30-minute discussion set Assistant Sheriff Joe Lombardo up against retired Capt. Larry Burns.

Friday's debate, which aired at 7:30 p.m. Friday on Vegas PBS Channel 10, is among the candidates' last-minute efforts to sway voters before the Nov. 4 election.

Here are three takeaways from the brief debate (edited for clarity):

1. Lombardo, who is backed by Sheriff Doug Gillespie, is critical of Burns' endorsement by the politicized Las Vegas Police Protective Association, but Burns thinks that having the approval of Metro's rank-and-file officers makes him the better candidate.

Burns: Ninety-six percent of the men and women (I have) worked with ... for the last 25 plus years endorse me. It is very meaningful. ... People follow leaders that they trust more effectively than those that they do not. ... I believe it was a mark of approval on my 28 years of service.

Lombardo: The troublesome thing ... is the union says, in a quote by their vice president, that "we buy politicians" from the community. Recently, a quarter of a million dollars (were donated to) Larry and his candidacy. That's troublesome to me, and it should be troublesome to the public.

(Lombardo is referring to a column by LVPPA's Assistant Executive Editor Mark Chaparian in the group's September/October issue of its Vegas Beat newsletter.)

2. Earlier this year, Gillespie ordered Metro officers to stop responding to most minor car accidents, citing staffing issues.​ Burns wants Metro to start responding to all wrecks immediately if he's elected. Lombardo says he wants to wait for more officers to graduate from Metro's police academy first.

Lombardo: Yes, we do need to bring (the old policy) back. But I will not say, I will not pander to say that on day one, we're bringing it back.

There's an issue associated with it. First, you have to determine, why did we go through it in the first place? Fatal accidents were skyrocketing. And what works for fatal accidents? Enforcement. Since we implemented the (new) policy fatal accidents have gone down to up to 30 percent. Citations have gone up 8 percent.

But, (the previous policy) was a great customer service. I want to get back to that service. We currently have 50 individuals in the academy. That'll be our first positive number of police officers in the past three years ... once they graduate, we can get people trained and go back to handling (minor) accidents.

Burns: All of the statistics aside, the reality is that our community is asking for it, and we have a responsibility to do our level best to provide it for them.

3. Sheriff Doug Gillespie has failed to persuade county officials to pass the More Cops tax initiative to fund new officers. Lombardo says he wants to do a better job educating the public about the department's budget woes to persuade elected officials to pass the tax. Burns agrees that the department needs more officers, but says he wants to partner with the community to do more with less.

Lombardo: It's all based on education and information. In order for More Cops to be successful in the future ... first we have to identify the structural deficit. The structural deficit currently is $35 million. On the jail side, it's $30 million. At (University Medical Center), it's $31 million. Public safety has to rise to a different level in order to be successful so we don't have to lay off (employees). For More Cops to be successful ... (we need) communication and education for the public. The public has to support it for the County Commission to support it.

Burns: We've got to identify, how can we do more with less by partnering with the community to reduce violent crime? But in the end, we've got to acknowledge (that there are too few officers).

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