Mar/Apr 2026 - You Create Your Environment

I'm blessed to have this opportunity to introduce myself as your newest LVPPA Executive Board member. For the past decade, as a member of LVMPD, I've seen the LVPPA stand up for what I believe in and support me through some of the most difficult incidents I've been involved in. In 2020, I was elected by my peers to the LVPPA Board of Directors to represent Northeast Area Command, where I served for the past five years. Now that I have joined the LVPPA Executive Board, I look forward to serving all of you in whatever capacity is needed in this next chapter of my career.

I grew up in a neighborhood often infamously and sarcastically referred to as "tweaker estates," located in the deep northeast area of Las Vegas. However, having grown up there, I did not consider it a "bad" neighborhood or overly dangerous, because that's all I knew. I went to school there, attended church there, and worked there, but never fell into the neighborhood's stigma.

I joined LVMPD in 2016 and was blessed to have some of the best field training officers this department has ever had. I completed field training in Downtown, Bolden, Spring Valley, and at the Northwest Area Command. The areas I trained in created the foundation of who I became as a street cop, thanks to the learning environment provided by my field trainers.

After completing field training, I found myself assigned back to my home area of Northeast. While in Northeast, I worked graveyard patrol for two years and swing shift patrol for five years. In three of the five swing-shift years, I served as a field training officer, trying to emulate the great training I received years ago as a brand-new cop. In 2023, I became a patrol detective and once again found myself on the Northeast swing shift after a short stint at the Convention Center.

While on graveyard patrol in Northeast, I recall responding to assist a squadmate on a felony property crime call. The suspect took off on foot, and a foot pursuit ensued. The suspect, whom we'll refer to as John, was quickly apprehended. While John was being escorted to the patrol vehicles, it dawned on me that John and I went to the same elementary school and literally grew up on the same street as kids. Two kids from "tweaker estates," going to the same school and growing up on the same street, yet taking two completely opposite paths in life. Your environment has an impact on your life, but by no means does that impact have to decide your life's path.

My question to all of you is: What is your current work environment? Are you surrounded by complainers who negatively attack everything that's happened in their career? Are you surrounded by scared sheep who fold on a whim and change their opinion after they smell a supervisor's disapproval? Is your environment toxic? Do not let a toxic environment dictate your attitude throughout your career. If you are unhappy about something, address it. Staying silent or complaining without trying to improve the situation doesn't fix anything.

I invite all of you to take control of your career. Become more involved in the LVPPA and the decisions that impact your career. Above all else, become conscious of your environment. Recognize and identify the negativity around you, and don't fall prey to the frail, hollow mindset of being an actionless complainer. Constantly look for ways to create an environment of progress and action. True health and wellness start with your environment.