Vegas Beat Magazine - March/April 2024

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. As we enter another round of sergeant testing here at LVMPD, I am continually getting asked about officers staying with the LVPPA when they promote to sergeant. Read More

Expedited investigations began several years ago when we convinced the sheriff that LVMPD was wasting time and money investigating cases where an officer had taken accountability for policy violations, inappropriate use of force or even something of a criminal nature like a DUI arrest, to name a few examples. Over the years, while representing officers in Internal Affairs investigations, officers would often come in and, under threat of termination, answer questions that many times had already been answered in a prior report. Read More

As a member of the LVPPA, you belong to the largest law enforcement association in the state of Nevada. By choosing to be a member of our Association, we represent you and your interests at the local, state and national levels. You have chosen to be a member of this Association to have representation. If LVMPD, IAB, CIRT, Labor Relations, Health and Safety, etc., followed the rules, contracts and laws and fairly enforced policies and procedures, there may be no need for representation. Clearly, in today’s day and age, as well as historically, we know that there is a need for representation and someone fighting for your best interests. Read More

In the past year, I have been to Internal Affairs, CIRT, FIT, meetings with supervisors and advised countless members involving matters pertaining to their careers. I recently received a phone call from an officer who was seeking advice about a disciplinary matter he became involved in. This individual had resigned his membership with the LVPPA about four years ago. I spoke to him when he resigned to inquire as to why he was discontinuing his membership, and he stated that he did not need representation because he never gets in trouble, and it is a waste of money. Read More

Every year, the Law Enforcement Assistance Fund (LEAF) gives out $30,000 in scholarships to deserving immediate family members of PPA members. These scholarships are paid for out of the LEAF account and not the PPA account. This year’s scholarships will be presented at the annual Police vs. Fire charity tackle football game on Saturday, May 11. We would like to continue this tradition and again present the scholarships at next year’s game. I would like to explain the criteria to be eligible for a LEAF scholarship so there is no confusion. Read More

I have been an LVMPD police officer for 17 years this month. I am at that point in my career where when I retire, I want to ensure that good leaders are left behind to help move the LVPPA and LVMPD forward in a positive direction. One of those future leaders is Detective Joel Blasko. In the time I have known him, he has shown himself to be a good man and an excellent cop and detective who cares about the future of our union and police agency. He asked me if he could write an article for our union magazine, so I told him he could use my article space. Read More

How is the morale on your squad? Hopefully, the answer is positive. I often ask this question when I visit officers from various area commands and bureaus. The answers vary, as they do with the career development questions. Full disclosure: The last patrol squad I was on was in 2016 at SEAC. There, it was not uncommon to shag over 15 to 20 calls per shift. You logged on with calls pending and ended the shift the same way. Occasionally, you got caught up, but it was the exception and not the rule. Read More

Greetings, and I hope this finds you well. This month, we are covering a topic I frequently receive questions about: utilizing your earned time off. I will review the different types of personal leave we have negotiated for, how it’s accrued, how much you can save, when you can use it and how to obtain approval for its use. I will also touch on when you may consider not using time. There are six types of leave identified in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA): holidays (Article 8), vacation leave (Article 9), professional leave (Article 9.8), sick leave (Article 10), bonus time (Article 10.10) and compensatory time (Article 18.4). Read More