Standing up to crime

Sunday, July 13, 2008 | 2:08 a.m.

Las Vegas Sun reporter Sam Skolnik spent time in the once-notorious Pennwood-Arville neighborhood and last week reported what he found — safer streets and people working together with the goal of making them even safer.

One of the people he talked to was Vianney Hernandez, manager of the Pine Village Apartments. Four years ago, she said, she had come to regret taking the job because of all the shootings, stabbings, drug dealing and prostitution in the area. She didn’t feel safe at all.

Today, she says, the neighborhood is fundamentally different. “It’s been slow progress, but a complete effort from everybody,” she told Skolnik. “After four years, I’m proud to say that you can walk outside at night without being afraid.”

Pennwood-Arville is a predominately Hispanic neighborhood west of Interstate 15, stretching from Decatur Boulevard on the west to Valley View Boulevard on the east, between Sahara and Sirius avenues.

Residents acknowledge that many of them are in this country illegally, working as laborers. Metro Police has long had a policy — a correct one — that undocumented immigrants are as entitled to police protection as anyone, and that victims should not remain victims out of fear they will be deported. Still, neighborhoods heavily populated by immigrants are often seen by criminals as prime operating territory — they believe no one will dare report them.

Three years ago Las Vegas Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian and one of her bilingual staffers, Adriana Martinez, along with neighborhood residents, city departments, Metro Police, area business owners, educational leaders and nonprofit and faith-based groups resolved to fight back.

While crime has not been eradicated by any means, the neighborhood today is much safer and, just as important, much more united. With so much support from so many sources, the honest and hardworking residents are gaining the upper hand.

We hope such neighborhood efforts, and there are many under way across the Las Vegas Valley, keep spreading. No one should feel he has to just endure being unsafe in his home or neighborhood.