Question of the Day - 10 March 2023

Any stats on how easy it is to get a recognizance bond? Cashless bail? I’d bet that half the crimes aren’t reported.

I think he meant Main Street.

That number has to be way off.  More than 1 in 10 visitors are victims?  I worked downtown for about 10 years total up to 2018, all hours of the day and night, and was never a victim of any crime.  If the true number was 11%, I doubt there would be any visitors.

You are 100% on that number being way off.  My question is what investment is the city making to improve the homeless situation? What investments into mental health centers or social work services to help reduce crime. Throwing more police that the problem isn't going to do anything to solve the root of the crimes happening.

I am an older senior female.  I used to like Downtown with casino's closer together and less walking.  Just stayed down there last Sept. and it seems to have gone downhill.  Buskers were mainly drunks or druggies.  People sleeping or passed out on streets.  We walked from The "D" to El Cortez for dinner but decided to get out of that area before dark.  Very prevalent odor of pot all over and music (???) so loud it could knock your socks off.  Don't think I will be staying Downtown any more.

I've been staying downtown 2x a year for the last 2 years. I have noticed more of a LVPD presence in that time, especially at night. I do venture off Fremont St for various reasons (catching a bus, morning walk, etc) and there are definitely a good amount of homeless people everywhere you go. This is not the suburbs for sure. It's a city just like most other big cities. It's not Disney World. I have a great time in Downtown Vegas BUT you have to treat it like a big city. As was stated in the article you have to be aware of your surroundings. Act confident. Act like you know where you are going even if you don't. I've had to walk from the Bonneville Bus Terminal up to Fremont at night and have never had a problem... but I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. Yes, it's sad that you can't just have a good time and not have to worry about these kind of things but this is the reality of the situation. I haven't had a reason NOT to keep coming to Downtown LV and I hope I never do!

My wife & I were playing B/J @ a casino 1 block over from Fremont St & her purse fell on the floor without realizing it.  When we were ready to leave we noticed her purse was gone.  Notified pit boss who notified the eye in the sky & they said they saw the purse & the person who picked it up.  The person left the casino quickly & they said there was nothing they could do.

Was it a bar? or a dog training facility? And Fremont St by the Experience and Casinos is much different than the 2 or 3 blocks further east. Sometimes blaming the environment is a good excuse for a business that isn't generating profits.

As Mark Twain said, "There are kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics."

The FBI does not track crime statistics by areas or neighborhoods, so any claim that "the FBI says" that crime is 93% higher downtown than the national average is simply not true. LVA QOD needs to do better.

The 93% number is an estimate using various sources. And it covers all of downtown, not just Fremont street. Importantly, it doesn't look like the estimated crime statistics for the Strip are that much different than they are for downtown, and the reason is obvious--crime (especially property crime like theft) follows crowds.

Comparing it to the national average, which includes lots of very sparsely populated areas and quiet residential neighborhoods, isn't very helpful. How does it compare to the Strip?

I only stay downtown anymore. Golden Nugget or El Cortez or Main Street Station. I agree with Michael above that you need to be careful. Stick to Fremont Street as much as possible with all of the lights and keep your items close. Be aware of your surroundings. Tough to do with all of the downtown glitter and excitement.

I remember when the Fremont Experience was built, they had a security/police presence that keep the area very safe and welcoming, it memory serves me it all changed when there was one of those constitutional challenges that stated Fremont roadway was public property which in turn removed the security/police operation of vacating the undesirables, so what you have now was the direct cause

I have a very Innocent looking Aluminum Walking cane that is reinforced with hardwood dowels, and has a very heavy Hurst 4 speed shift handle for the grip, and some other upgrades!.  I have never needed a cane for assistance, BUT it goes with me anytime I head downtown. even got the "Stroll" down to a science.  

First trip to Vegas was in the early 70's, right after college.  Totally different then it is now.  Strip was a shell of what it is now, Downtown, while a little "seedy" was safe and had a lot more action.

Could walk pretty much anywhere, anytime.  Rumor has it that "problems were buried".

For the last 4-5 years we only stayed downtown. Last time I went we stayed at 4Q.  Kept to the casino areas, as far down as Container Park downtown during the day, or drove to South Point or Emerald Island.  AT night we pretty much stayed "under the canopy", Plaza to Fitzgerald's.

To me its simply common sense, when in doubt, DON'T!

Use the Valet. Don't be surprised by panhandling.

1. For Michael: You don't have to walk from the Bonneville Transit Center to Fremont St. Two buses will take you. One is the Deuce (Strip bus), another is one ending in X (get current info on the RTC Website).
2. "Downtown" (for crime-stat purposes) definitely includes areas outside of the Fremont St. corridor (Plaza to El Cortez), and those dark areas include both homeless people and non-homeless criminals. The contiguous casino paths (Plaza to El Cortez, and north to Downtown Grand, California & Main Street) are safe. To go outside of the safe area, take a bus or a cab; why would you want to walk at night instead? If you want exercise, walk from the Plaza to EC and back, once or twice. I have stayed and walked around the downtown casino area a zillion times and never got close to being a crime victim, never heard a gunshot, etc. If going from El Cortez to Downtown Grand, walk up Fremont, then take the side street over; don't walk straight from EC to DG, because that's not safe.

I figured there was a bus that could get me from Bonneville to Fremont but every time I enter my trip in the RideRTC app from the airport to Fremont it always tells me to walk from Bonneville or WB Clark after 4th to Fremont. Maybe there wouldn't be a bus for a while so it thinks its quicker to just walk it. I guess the app thinks it's safe to walk it since I'm already taking a bus LOL. 

That RTC app might be trying to save you from having to wait and catch another bus from the downtown Bonneville station to Fremont St, plus save you the bus fare. The app probably figures Fremont St is close enough to walk from the Bonneville station. It doesn't take into account if the walk is safe or not, or if someone has mobility problems. You can ask the attendant behind the bullet-proof glass (joke) at the Bonneville station and they'll tell you which bus is the next one leaving going south that will stop at Fremont St. Walking from the RTC Bonneville station to Fremont St is about 5 blocks or so (.5 to .7 miles), takes about 15-20 minutes. The street called Casino Center Blvd runs straight from the RTC Bonneville station to the middle of Fremont St between the Golden Nugget and 4 Queens. But I can't vouch for the safeness of walking that route, haven't done it in several years.

In my comment above I meant to say ask at the RTC Bonneville station about the next bus going NORTHWARD that stops at Fremont St.