Vegas high crime areas

OK, there%26#39;s a little known link that should help end the ';where%26#39;s the worst crime'; debates. I could tell you that answer, but you%26#39;ll only believe it when you research it yourself. ';So what is this link, where can I find it?'; you ask? At the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department website of course. Never thought of looking there did ya? Now keep in mind, the corporations know this information exists, and go to great lengths to keep what reports they can from being filed. As a side note, high trespass arrests reflect a vigilant security department. Most other crimes don%26#39;t require a suspect in custody to file a report.

I%26#39;ve hesitated sharing this link because I%26#39;ve seen the mass hysteria caused by crime facts before. The true FACT is that as tourists, you are a target...anywhere. Who wants to return to Vegas, at their own expense, to testify? Who wants to explain to a wife why he was ';rolled';? Criminals count on that. Even when caught, most victims won%26#39;t press charges, even fewer return to testify.

Las Vegas has the largest Law Enforcement numbers in the Country, once you include the Commercial Law Enforcement. Just count all the uniforms and ';suits'; trying to look like furniture sometime. Metro keeps a low profile in tourist areas, because there is such a large Security presence already there. On a ';per capita'; basis, Metro is about on a par with the rest of the nation. Now add in a hundred thousand tourists, and they%26#39;re badly understaffed. But that%26#39;s a whole other tirade not for here.

So here it is:

http://www.lvmpd.com/crimeviewcommunity

--Bjarki--

Vegas high crime areas

I just have to comment, even before reading the link, that I get *TAKEN FOR A ROLL* every time I gamble in a casino. ; )

Vegas high crime areas

would be nice if you could ';sort'; to a specific address like Bellagio but I am sure they do not want to pinpoint.

Somehow, I just feel safer on the strip knowing there are cameras all over as a strong deterent to the bad guys.

';On a ';per capita'; basis, Metro is about on a par with the rest of the nation.';

I do not now how long you have lived in Vegas or where you get that information but Metro for years has been begging for more officers because we are so far behind most of the U.S. in officers per capita it is not even funny. Most other major cities have 1 to 1.5 more officers per 1000 then Las Vegas does.

We just passed a raise in the Clark County sales tax so that they could add 500 more officers over the next five years.

The link you provided is a good thing but some of your info is not correct.

If you spend much time on the strip, which we do since we own a business there you will see that Metro has a very high profile there. Even more so on the weekends. They learned years ago that being visable helps keep things under control. During the summer you have 100%26#39;s of metro officers on foot, on horse back, on bikes and in cars all over the strip.

Vegas is secure compared to many other tourist area%26#39;s around this country but as a local we need more police since most of the police resources are currently going to keep the tourists safe and the town growing.

Lee

Lee - I was under the impression that you folks in NV had pretty generous Open Carry and Concealed Carry laws. Or am I incorrect?

Open carry yes, anyone can carry a gun if it is not hidden.

Getting a conceled permit is much harder here and many places have it posted that you can not carry in their businesses. Casinos, government offices, school and even walmart have it posted on their doors. Even with a permit you must abide by posted areas.

The crime here is not really that bad if you use some common sense about what you do, where you go and who you are with. If you go out looking for trouble in certain area%26#39;s it is easy to find though.

Lee

Hi Lee,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you, but holiday’s are always a busy time for me.

I was born here in Las Vegas, over 40 years ago. My family has been here for five generations now, four of them being born here.

The statistics I stated on ';per capita'; might be outdated, as it was during my own academy days that I remember it from. I too, of course, have heard the claims of more needed Law Enforcement officers, followed by the claims of more needed jail cells, followed by more Officers, followed by…well you get the point. Metro seems to always want/need something. Where did you get the national average vs. Vegas statistic from anyways? Last time I saw the -1.5 per 1000 “statistic” it included visitors…as I pointed out before.

As for your claim that, “During the summer you have 100%26#39;s of metro officers on foot, on horse back, on bikes and in cars all over the strip”, it’s unsupportable by manpower numbers. If it were even close to true there wouldn’t be hour long waits for available unit to respond to the calls there. Any Security department on the Strip can verify this. Just ask how long the wait is to have a person cited for trespassing.

Since you own a business on the strip, you get the high visibility treatment that keeps business owners happy. Daily visits by the area “supervisor” (public relations detail) will be common. But how many Police Officers vs. Security Officers do you see a day? My point was that Security far outnumbers Police. Of course if you are running a business that “pops for cops” your visits will increase…it’s why the businesses do it. Btw, it’s against departmental policy to accept any form of gratuity, anybody who does is a crooked cop as far as IAD is concerned.

As for being visible, proactive vs. reactive is a “dead horse”. It was long ago agreed upon that visibility was desirable, it was good for public relations, and hence the regular business visits here and increased foot patrols. One look at the numbers of calls waiting to be answered though removes any doubt that Police in any large city are mostly reactive.

So of course we need more Officers…we always need more Officers…as long as there aren’t enough Officers to prevent all criminal acts we’ll need more Officers. And then we’ll need more prison cells too.

OctoberMooN,

Nevada is an “Open Carry” state, but many local jurisdictions have their own codes/ordinances on the matter, like Clark County’s Deadly Weapon in a Public Area. Several cities have laws against loaded weapons. You can carry the gun, just not any cartridges. And then there’s always the risk of “disturbing the peace” just by carrying a gun. In reality, if you carried a gun down the street here you could expect to have the weapon impounded for 72 hours AT LEAST. I hope you remembered to register the gun when you got here, or you’ll never see it again. That goes for concealed permit holders from other Counties too. They still have to register the gun in Clark County too. Of course if you’re already a Felon you won’t need to worry about that since Felons don’t have to register their guns, just themselves.

As for a Concealed Weapon Permit, they are relatively easy to acquire, at least compared to many States, as long as you’re a resident. Nevada is a “must issue” State, meaning that unless the Sheriff can find a reason not to issue a permit they have to do so. We also recognize several other State’s Permits, unlike California (a “reason” state). They still must register their guns here though.

The other thing to remember is that since the Casino Industry is so politically powerful, the Laws where written for their benefit. This spilled over to the little businessman’s benefit too. Private Property is almost as good as being a sovereign nation here; you are the King of your castle. With that comes the ability to dictate who comes onto your property and how they will act…no weapons. Just because I choose to open my doors to the public it doesn’t mean it becomes public property. Businesses need no reason to exclude anybody. The Trespassing Statute is pretty broad, as is Disrupting a Business.

But Lee is right about this being a safe town as long as common sense is used. But if you want the kind of excitement the casinos don’t offer, it’s not hard to find.

--Bjarki--