Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Traffic Bureau/Fatal Detail Sergeant Richard Rundell poses for a photo Tuesday, July 9, 2024.
Saturday, July 13, 2024 | 2 a.m.
When a severe car crash happens in Las Vegas, police respond as quickly as possible, with first responders arriving to help the injured, clear roadways and establish a crime scene.
But after the paramedics have helped victims and officers secure the scene, the next phase of the investigation begins and a new team steps in: Metro Police’s fatal detail.
“Unfortunately, I know that when my phone rings, something bad happened, somebody most likely lost their life,” said Rich Rundell, a Metro sergeant assigned to the fatal detail. “The majority of my career has been being able to figure out — whether it be a simple fender bender up to a fatality — what happened.”
Officers on the fatal detail are what Rundell calls the “second responders” of Metro Police. Whereas paramedics and patrol officers respond to traffic crises immediately, the fatal detail scrutinizes a crash scene with state-of-the-art technology and meticulous detective work. The detail consists of 10 officers and two sergeants, including Rundell, who work in two-week shifts responding to fatal or near-fatal crashes throughout the county.
The unit is the “highest level of investigations” for Metro’s larger traffic bureau, which includes more than 100 officers who patrol on police motorcycles.
Fatal detail’s investigations can take anywhere from weeks to a year as investigators meticulously comb over data and evidence from crashes. Detectives determine vehicle speed from debris, cross-reference video footage and use 3D digital scans of crash sites to determine which drivers may be at fault and why.
The job is both somber and rewarding for Rundell, who said being able to provide answers for the loved ones of victims is a driving force for him.
“The thing that I like about being the ‘second responder’ is that it’s now our job to come in, take those puzzle pieces, and you put them together again,” Rundell said. “Being that person that gets to go in there, put all the puzzle pieces back together and get some closure or some solace for the families and answer their questions, it’s an honor to be able to do that.”
Rundell understands the effects of dangerous driving and fatal detail’s work more than most, because he may be the only one to have experienced both ends of investigation. In 2011, Rundell was struck on his service motorcycle by a distracted driver. The wreck left him with two broken arms, a broken leg and a dislocated hip.
The crash was so severe that the team was called out to the collision. And in the weeks after, Rundell saw how the team investigated his own crash. From that moment, Rundell was enamored by the work.
“Going through that investigation as a victim, it piqued my interest,” Rundell said. “I still have the scars, and I still feel it.”
The fatal detail is not the only specialized unit within Metro’s traffic bureau, which also has units for hit-and-run incidents and DUI investigations. More than 100 arrests have been made by the DUI investigation team since it was reassembled in mid-May, including 14 over the July Fourth holiday weekend.
Traffic deaths are at record levels in 2024. More than 140 people in Clark County, including more than 80 pedestrians, have died in crashes already this year.
The total represents a 25% increase from the same time frame in 2023. Pedestrian deaths are up 53% this year in Nevada, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
In a plea to residents to be more cognizant of their driving habits, Metro released a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, after three fatal crashes occurred in a 10-hour window June 24. In the video, Rundell highlights what he says is the biggest contributing factor for increased traffic deaths: speeding.
“All speed, all reckless, all resulting in death,” Rundell said in the video. “Las Vegas, we need to slow it down, we’re in such a hurry to kill ourselves.”
While the fatal detail does its best to help put together the causes of deadly crashes and hold irresponsible drivers to account, stopping the growing death toll is something that takes more than Metro’s 10-man team, Rundell said.
“I want (Las Vegans) to understand we look at them just like us, and we need their help,” Rundell said. “Whether it’s just be slowing yourself down or reminding your families when they’re out there to drive safe, this isn’t a problem that the police can solve without help from the public.”
[email protected] / 702-990-8926 / @a_y_denrunnels
