Metro Police recruits attend a graduation ceremony for Metro Police recruits at the Orleans Showroom Tuesday, April 4, 2023. With the graduation Metro Police added 57 new officers.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 | 2 a.m.
U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., at Allegiant Stadium on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022.
Issues police face in Las Vegas
Federal legislation co-sponsored by Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., aims to address a staffing shortage in police departments nationwide as law enforcement agencies continue to grapple with a decline in officers.
The Recruit and Retain Act would update existing federal grant program to infuse an additional $3 million annually for the creation of a federal pipeline program to support collaboration between local departments and schools to help facilitate recruitment among young people and encourage them to pursue a career in law enforcement.
The bill has picked up bipartisan support in recent weeks from Democrats like Rosen, and Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Chris Coons of Delaware. It was initially introduced in February by Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb.
Republicans John Cornyn of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina also have signed on as cosponsors of the legislation.
“I’ve talked to law enforcement leaders all across Nevada, and they told me one of the biggest challenges they face is really a dire shortage of police officers and how difficult it is to recruit and, of course, retain them,” Rosen told the Sun this week. “So this bipartisan legislation that I’m supporting is going to provide more resources to police departments so they can facilitate these recruitment activities, especially in schools, where we can recruit, hire and hopefully retain those young folks.”
In a statement, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill, who oversees Las Vegas’ Metro Police, the largest law enforcement agency in Nevada, praised the bill for attempting to address recruiting woes at a grassroots level.
“Policing has changed through the years and the way we recruit, hire and treat our officers must change too,” McMahil said. “In order to hire officers that reflect our community, we must help them overcome barriers in the recruitment process, and some of those can be financial. Making sure our employees accurately reflect the diversity of the community we secure is one of our top priorities.”
Las Vegas area police departments have been vocal about open positions and their efforts to bring more people onto the payroll.
As of April, Metro Police Department has a 5% vacancy rate for commissioned police officers out of 184 allotted positions, said Deputy Chief Mike Gennaro, who oversees Metro’s recruitment and retention of employees.
The department swore in 57 officers from a recruitment class April 4 — helping to reduce what was a 7% vacancy rate last year.
More recruits are in the pipeline, but Metro remains persistent at finding new ways to recruit applications.
It is hard to pinpoint why recruiting has become difficult for departments, Gennaro said.
“I think through COVID a lot of people have been exposed to other means or comforts, and we can’t compete with something like that,” Gennaro said. “When we look at some of the conflict with police nationally, that may have turned some people away.”
Gennaro said the department was learning to listen and change culture to attract employees.
“We have a great relationship with the community,” Gennaro said. “But things can always be better, and we are always learning.”
Attempts to attract a younger generation of officers have led to policy changes including the removal of previous restrictions on facial hair.
“We have to be as competitive as we can with other agencies,” Gennaro said. “I don’t want to have someone say, ‘Oh I don’t want to go to Metro because I don’t want to shave.’ ”
Las Vegas Department of Public Safety Chief Jason Potts said the younger generation also wants more of a work-life balance, which can be hard to find in police shifts.
“We need to evolve and find ways to develop incentives,” Potts said.
He said limited staffing increases the stress on personnel, which then leads to more dissatisfaction of employees.
Potts says his department is experiencing a 14% vacancy rate for about 400 employee slots inlcuding professional staff, dispatchers and correctional officers.
Metro Police Department and the Department of Public Safety have both invested in mental health programs to reduce burnout. Potts said his department had sleep, exercise and nutritionists on staff, as well as marriage family therapists and a behavioral health administrator.
“You can’t get people to be proactive at 3 a.m. unless they feel trusted and supported by me and our city leaders,” Potts said.
There also is a focus on hiring the right people from the top down, Potts said.
“We want the right people who reflect our community,” Potts said. “People who are quick to be resilient, not quick to be negative, and that starts with us.”
Being accessible to the community is another recruiting effort being used by departments.
As for Rosen’s bill, it also contains provisions that would expand the existing COPS Hiring Program to help “defray” departmental recruiting and onboarding costs,” she said.
As the legislation is written, law enforcement agencies would be able to partner with any elementary or secondary school, as well as institutions of higher education. The bill would allow the office of the U.S. attorney general to award grants to eligible bodies for recruiting activities that support “substantial” student engagement for a career in law enforcement or otherwise “enhance” community interactions between local youths and police departments through activities like dedicated programming for students, work-based learning opportunities, mentoring, job shadowing, apprenticeships and more. The bill also carves out the ability to partner with tribal colleges and historically Black colleges and universities as well as Hispanic-serving institutions.
That, Rosen says, could potentially be a boon for officers while calming critiques from criminal justice advocates, who say the makeup of modern policing agencies largely do not match the populations of communities they serve.
“They (departments) can work with schools in certain areas to be sure that we’re recruiting and showing people how they can serve their community, and how we get them engaged in some of the community policing and some of the positive things that our law enforcement is doing all around Nevada,” Rosen said. “I think when they apply for grants, they will try to choose schools that they can get folks to come and stay and serve their community in the very best ways.”
The bill has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration.
