Editorial: Hopefully rationality will prevail

The city of Las Vegas' long-awaited efficiency study of Metro Police finally has been released. When the study was initiated it was done in secret. There was no consultation with Metro Police or even Clark County, which also provides funding for the city-county police force. And when word leaked out from City Hall in September that such a study was under way -- and had evolved into an exploration of breaking away from Metro Police and creating a separate city police department -- residents were understandably concerned about this bombshell.

So after a public outcry, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman last month ordered that talk of deconsolidation come to a halt and that the study only look at the efficiency of services Metro Police provides to the city. Given the harsh language between Metro Police officials and the Las Vegas City Council over the possibility of secession, many may greet skeptically this report, viewing it as payback against Metro Police.

The 150-page report contends the city could save as much as $4.1 million every year if the police department was streamlined and some costs currently borne by the city instead were absorbed by the county. Some of the recommendations -- if ultimately found feasible -- won't be easy to implement and may even require a change in state law, such as a proposal to have the city receive a share of crime-related forfeitures. Another suggestion -- that the county assume the costs of the search and rescue operation of Metro Police because it principally operates in nonurban areas -- reflects a too narrow approach to valleywide policing.

It is encouraging, though, that on Thursday officials from Metro Police, the county and city talked with each other about the city report's findings. The shame is that the city didn't think of this approach first. Not only would openness have helped quell fears that the city was going to tear apart a largely successful police department, but it also would have aided in a constructive dialogue over whether the city is paying its fair share of dollars to support Metro Police.

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