Violent crimes are up. As of March 8, 2016, Las Vegas saw a 67% hike in homicides, compared to the same time last year. The police unions are saying a historic change in policing is to blame, while Metro Police say that change is providing resources to fight crime and the increase in crime aligns with the national trend, not because of the new policing model.
The new model dissolves traditional investigative units like gangs and narcotics and disperses some of their detectives into police substations. Assistant Sheriff Tom Roberts says the purpose is to give each substation that expertise and allow each area the flexibility to address their own problems. 8 months into Metro’s new decentralized model of policing, he says they’ve shortened police response time in investigations, down from up to a week to as little as one or two days.