Officer honored for aiding man, 78

Metro Police Officer Laurie Bisch set out this past spring to take care of a blighted property and wound up saving a senior citizen's life -- an act for which she was recognized Thursday with the department's community service award.

The mid-morning ceremony at City Hall also saw Officer William Redfairn awarded for exemplary service by updating the traffic bureau's accident reporting and investigation manual.

Officers Dennis Larsen, Bob Holland and Bill Price were also honored for their countless hours consumed in past months restoring three old vehicles to resemble the patrol cars driven by local law enforcement in 1974.

The vehicles -- 1974 editions of a Plymouth Fury (a sheriff's department vehicle), a Satellite (driven by the old Las Vegas Police Department), and a Dodge Monaco (the first Metro police car) -- were displayed July 1 during Metro's 25th anniversary party.

Bisch's task was nothing out of the ordinary for the five-year Metro veteran, who is typically assigned to clean-up projects in the valley's most rundown neighborhoods.

Yet what captured Sheriff Jerry Keller's attention was how Bisch's efforts to help 78-year-old Bill Taylor ended up bringing his neighbors along Houston Street together.

"It entirely improved (their) quality of life," Keller said after handing Bisch the award which includes a community service pin she will wear on her uniform. "(Bisch) reclaimed this man's life."

Taylor's predicament started a few years ago when his step-daughter invited a stranger to stay a few nights on the back porch. Taylor felt sorry for the man and let him rent out the garage.

The stranger, however, became a landlord himself. While Taylor was in the hospital recovering from a mugging, the man started renting out space in the single story house to drug dealers, prostitutes, robbers, burglars and vagrants.

Taylor returned from the hospital and became a virtual prisoner in his own home.

Metro's investigation into a series of burglaries wound up seeing police bust in and haul out Taylor's unwanted roommates from the single-story home where rats, roaches and other vermin had begun living amongst mounds of stolen property, rotten food, heroin needles, dirty clothes and trash.

The property was condemned and targeted for demolition when Bisch learned of Taylor's plight.

In just 33 days, the officer overhauled the 940-square-foot house. After clearing 21 dump truck loads of trash, she stripped down the walls and floors; replaced the sheet rock, doors, floor tiles and carpeting; installed new outlets and light fixtures; and acquired community donations to furnish the house with new appliances and furniture.

Today, the neighbors are watching out for Taylor. They call Bisch or Metro if undesirables show up near his home.

"He's got food in his refrigerator, his house is clean, he makes his bed every day. It's really helped him," Bisch said. "What's really something is how the community is now policing its own neighborhood."

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