Vegas Beat Magazine - September/October 2023

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. I wanted to talk about jumping the chain of command, but from the lens of a supervisor who jumps the chain downward toward the troops. Read More

As I’m sure all of you are aware, the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) went into effect July 1 and is a three-year contract. I know the timing is very confusing to a lot of our officers when they see their rate of pay reduced right after seeing it go up because of the PERS increase, so I thought I’d try to shed some light on why this happens every two years. First of all, the LVPPA does not negotiate your PERS in any way. Your pension benefits are determined by the State Legislature every two years. Read More

Why is “why” important when it comes to force investigations and the internal review? The who, what, when and where are the easy part in the investigation. It’s all laid out right in front of us. We have body-worn camera footage and witness statements at our disposal during the investigation. We are all versed at discovering and investigating as officers. Yes, I said investigating. As police officers, we are all investigators. But what really matters is the why, and you need to be able to articulate your why. Read More

I am never amazed at the things that can happen while working in any sector of law enforcement. In my 23 years, I have seen a lot of things happen. I have seen officers attacked, spit on, threatened, injured, lied on, lied to and treated like this type of behavior is expected. One thing that truly bothers me is the fact that an officer can be placed on administrative leave without pay, and while in this status, the Department requires an officer to seek permission to find a job to tide them over. Read More

Below are the Department’s new patrol training day guidelines that were pushed out to your captains and went into effect on July 1. The biggest takeaway, besides ensuring that you get more training, is that a primary training day can only be canceled with the approval of the deputy chief, and a secondary training day requires the captain’s approval. A training day cannot be canceled by your sergeant or lieutenant. There is a DPA aspect listed in the secondary training day. Read More

Even though the legislative session just ended a few months ago, now is the time to begin working. I have started brainstorming ideas for bills that we, as your Association, can carry the water for in the next session, 16 months from now. I have already spoken to officers about bills relating to college tuition coverage for children of police officers who receive a Purple Heart for being severely injured on duty. Read More

Throughout August and September, the Executive Board will be visiting the area commands to brief the membership on trending events and issues that directly affect our members. There are times when officers are not present for these briefings. I wanted to take this opportunity to provide an overview of what we will be discussing this year. Read More

Greetings; I hope this finds everyone well. Another issue of the magazine comes with another reminder of how social media is not always your friend. The fact that we frequently reference social media in our articles should be a hint as to some of the challenges that accompany its use. Although social media platforms offer several benefits, there are drawbacks. The evolution of social media platforms has grown at a rapid pace. When platforms like Facebook started in the early 2000s, users were limited in the information they could share. Read More