President’s Message

Can a Sergeant Stay With the LVPPA?

I hope that this article finds all our members happy, healthy and ready to tackle 2024. To lead off, I want to remind everyone to set goals for the new year. Among them should be to expand your contributions to your Fidelity account, invest in yourself, and start building training and skill sets to become a better officer or supervisor. Read More »

Officer Retention

I hope this first article of 2024 finds you happy and healthy. Coming off of 2023, it appears our profession will continue to struggle with the retention that it so desperately needs. Toward the end of 2023, several news outlets and media groups were reporting the struggles of law enforcement to retain their commissioned officers. An online media publication reported that “over 2,500 cops have handed in their badges so far this year.” These numbers are quite staggering! Read More »

Looking Back on 2023

It seems like just yesterday I was saying that 2022 had flown by, and now here we are, publishing our last issue of Vegas Beat for 2023. This has certainly been another busy year, and as we enter the holiday season and focus on giving thanks for the many gifts in our lives, I’m filled with gratitude for each and every one of our PPA members; our Board of Directors, delegates and staff; and all of our partners and supporters who have helped to make it a very successful one as well. Read More »

Jumping the Chain of Command

I hope this article finds all our members happy and healthy. We are moving toward the end of the summer. Kids are returning to school, stores are putting out Halloween decorations and the thought of the summer heat changing into that beautiful fall Las Vegas weather is lingering in our minds. Read More »

So Far, So Good Under New Sheriff

I hope that 2023 has been a great year so far for all our members and their families. This is the first President’s Message I am writing under a new Sheriff with new ideas for our agency. As is customary in my position, working with the administration is a daily occurrence. As it was with Sheriff Lombardo and his team, your Executive Board has been in constant contact with the upper administration quite frequently. Read More »

The Myth of the “Best Trained Department in the Country”

This article is going to talk about what I feel is the myth surrounding LVMPD being the best-trained police department in the country. While I do not feel our training is anywhere near where it should be, this does not mean we do not start out as one of the best-trained departments in the country. I believe that the instruction and training that our officers get in the Academy are second to none. Read More »

LVMPD Dispatcher Tiffany Grammas Retires After 15 Years of Dedicated Service

Typically, the members of the Executive Board write their articles for publication. This article will be different. After 15-plus years of service to the community and LVMPD, my amazing wife, Tiffany Grammas, retired from her position as your dispatcher. I wanted to give her a forum to write an article addressed to those who have meant so much to her, those being her officers on the other end of the radio. Read More »

New Direction for LVMPD

I hope the holiday season was extremely enjoyable for all of you and your families. For the last eight years, every turn of the calendar found us still under the leadership of Sheriff Lombardo. This will be a first for all of us since 2015 that we have a new leader for our organization. My time as president of the LVPPA has solely been working with Sheriff Lombardo, and with that came a level of comfort in knowing exactly how to work with and navigate our boss. Read More »

Lessons From One of Hollywood’s Good Guys

This magazine will be our last edition for 2022. I am sure all our readers will agree that it seems like 2022 has flown by. As we enter the holiday season, a time for family, friends, thankfulness and appreciation for all the gifts in our lives, I wanted to post an acceptance speech from Chris Pratt after winning an award for his role in a movie. The speech was from 2018 at the MTV Movie & TV Awards. Read More »

Breaking the Stigma Around Mental Health Issues

September marks National Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month. Law enforcement officers and other first responders are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty. According to law enforcement mental advocacy organization Blue H.E.L.P., 105 officers have died by suicide so far this year. In 2021, we lost 179 brothers and sisters who took their own lives, and 186 the year before that. Read More »