Please join me in wishing our outgoing Sheriff, Doug Gillespie, much health and happiness in his retirement. Sheriff Gillespie joined the force in 1980. Before becoming our Sheriff, he served in patrol, Field Training, SWAT, K-9, and Special Events, as well as at the Academy. He worked as a captain at both Southeast Area Command and the Vice Narcotics Bureau, and was then promoted to the commander of the Central District, which includes the Southeast Area Command, the Downtown Area Command, the Traffic Bureau and McCarran Airport. In 2002, he was promoted to deputy chief and oversaw the operations of the Clark County Detention Center. When Sheriff Bill Young took office in 2004, he selected Sheriff Gillespie to serve as his undersheriff.

In 2007, Sheriff Gillespie was elected as the Sheriff of Clark County, and he was reelected for a second term four years later. By my count, this amounts to a total of 35 years of service at LVMPD! That is a long time, and during it, Sheriff Gillespie has done a great deal for this agency and for our community. We all owe him a debt of gratitude.

Over the past 12 years, in his four years as undersheriff followed by eight years as the Sheriff, we have had some “spirited” discussions with Sheriff Gillespie about issues affecting PPA members. While we have not always seen eye to eye on all these issues, Sheriff Gillespie always maintained an open-door policy with the PPA and was always willing to hear us out. I have great respect for him and wish him well in whatever the future holds for him. I hope that if you have not yet had a chance to do so, you take a moment to join me in wishing the Sheriff much health and happiness in his retirement.