In all honesty, we would expect the ratio to be that way around: To have a major visible police presence in Las Vegas' tourist areas to the extent that law enforcement obviously outweighed the number of panhandlers and "entertainers" would probably be as intimidating and detrimental to the intended ambiance of fun and escapism as the less-welcome civilian elements may pose -- if not more so. Plus, in addition to uniformed officers, there are plenty of plainclothes cops operating in Las Vegas, so you can't necessarily make any assumptions about police presence, or the lack thereof, simply on face value.
Another factor to consider is that last summer, 37 hi-def, full-pan-tilt-zoom surveillance cameras were added to various locations the entire length of the Las Vegas Strip, financed by a $300,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security. So powerful are these cameras that it's been noted that many of them actually have the capability of seeing inside hotel rooms, although a spokesman for Metro at the time stated that any intrusion on guest privacy outside of an actual police incident would not be tolerated and would be met with disciplinary action.
Hence, just because you're not aware of Metro being around does not mean that the police aren't keeping an eye out for anything untoward.
Still, all that said, we do understand your point and it’s a thorny question that has crossed our desk on many an occasion over the years. Back in 2011, things seemed to reach something of a critical mass and senior casino executives were quoted as calling it "a crisis that’s tarnishing the Strip’s image as a safe and fun place for tourists," and "threatening the state’s economic engine," and creating "a dangerous perception of our city."
It's a matter of striking a balance between constitutional rights and civil liberties, versus protecting the tourist trade and keeping things safe, and sometimes it's a difficult line to determine. The recession hit Las Vegas particularly hard and threw many people out of work, so for some the panhandling is a last-resort matter of survival. Some are more creative than those who simply opt to beg, hence the proliferation of costumed characters, musicians, and others who might be deemed entertainers. The so-called "porn slappers" have been an unwelcome fact of life for a long time and cause an obvious nuisance, both by bothering people with unwanted advances and by littering the Strip with erotic handbills at a time when budget cuts have seen street-cleaning services reduced, but in 2007 a federal judge declared unconstitutional a county ordinance preventing commercial leafleting on the Strip.
While several cities, like Atlanta, have voted to ban panhandling around hotels and tourist attractions, no such move has been made in Las Vegas, although those who work the streets begging, busking, or trying to persuade you to have a "private dancer" sent to your room are subject to various laws, ordinances, and county codes concerning the creation of a public disturbance, jay walking, unlicensed vending, disrupting traffic, solicitation, and so on. Our best advice is simply to ignore or politely decline anyone who approaches you and just keep on walking, unless you feel you have been the victim of an actual criminal offense, in which case contact the nearest law-enforcement or hotel-security officer as soon as possible; these days there's a good chance the incident will have been caught on camera, should you need to seek redress.
