I took a drive down the Strip and noticed all the big casinos have their entrances blocked off and police cars with lights flashing sitting in front. I mean, there were A LOT of police cars. It left me wondering what was left for police to drive off-Strip. Anyway, as a taxpaying local, I'd like to know who's paying for that extra casino protection, the casinos or taxpayers?
[Editor's Note: We've had some trouble extracting information from Las Vegas Metro since the shutdown, so for this answer, we did an end-around via a trusted go-between. Introducing Joe Dorsey.]
Joe Dorsey is a name you'll be seeing more of in the coming months as we put the finishing touches on his as-yet untitled biography. His main claim to Las Vegas fame was as a background investigator for the Gaming Control Board, then a security director at the Hilton, Aladdin, Dunes, Golden Nugget, and Tropicana, and finally an international marker collector during the wild and woolly years of Asian high rollers ('80s and '90s). In fact, Joe was the one who figured out that the Clark County District Attorney could become the de facto collection agent for the Las Vegas casinos, which is standard operating procedure today. Much of this stems from Joe's background as a patrol officer and detective for the San Diego Police Department (and prior to that, stints in the Navy and Coast Guard).
Joe contacted a trusted law-enforcement/resort-security source who explained the rationale for the expanded police presence.
"The cops you see at the resorts are part of the 200-plus force assigned to the Convention Center substation during normal operations. These are the officers who normally cover calls on the Strip and around the Convention Center.
"Given that the call for services (typical radio calls) at that substation has decreased by 90% since the shutdown, Metro command can place those officers at the resorts to assist security when needed. They also show a law-enforcement presence to any bad guys who might be thinking that with fewer employees and guests around, they could gain access without being detected and commit theft. Other bad guys might surveille the properties, probing for weaknesses that could be used, for example, in a terrorist event.
"All these officers are on the payroll, so neither the casinos nor the taxpayers are on the hook for the 'extra' security you see on the Strip. It's now simply part of the patrol officers' regular duties -- a great use of police assets in a troubling time."
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Dave in Seattle.
Apr-27-2020
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