HOW COVID-19 HAS CHANGED POLICING IN SOUTHERN NEVADA
With the Strip shut down and the streets nearly empty because of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s order aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus, has policing become easier or more difficult?
Clark County Undersheriff Kevin McMahill told KNPR’s State of Nevada that homicides are down from the same time last year, fatal accidents are even but there has been an increase in robberies and aggravated assaults, which includes domestic violence. McMahill dispelled a common rumor that has been popping up on social media about an increase in home invasion robberies by people pretending to be from the health district or another service.
“We started to investigate the rumor that was going around,” he said, “Right now, we’re not seeing evidence that that is occurring.”
He said they have a team that keeps an eye out for reports of crimes that sounds similar in nature. If there is a series of crimes with similar details, they investigate to see if there is a problem, and so far, that is not happening.
The department did see a 6 percent drop in the number of calls for service. McMahill believes the drop is due to the closure of the Strip and other casinos around the city. He said calls for service for those areas account for about 6 percent of the department’s calls.