KLAS: Nevada State Police staffing crisis creates deadly consequences with few troopers patrolling Las Vegas overnight
Reporting from KLAS found that under Joe Lombardo state police shortages are at crisis levels. The department reported an estimated 58% vacancy rate in the Las Vegas area with only three or four officers patrolling the Valley at night, leaving communities less safe. On Lombardo’s watch, deaths on Nevada’s roads continue to rise. In 2023, Nevada reported more deaths on the road than the national average while state troopers patrolling in the Las Vegas Valley have decreased 45% since 2015.
Despite the Nevada Police Union president citing low take-home pay relative to competing agencies as the primary reason for shortages, in 2023 Lombardo voted against the union’s collective bargaining agreement that included critical pay increases for officers. After calling state trooper vacancies “a crisis” on the campaign trail in 2022, Lombardo stiffed officers again by ordering that they and other state employees who were working under collective bargaining agreements wouldn’t be receiving longevity pay under AB522 – payments of up to $1,027.
Now, Lombardo has declined to include additional pay raises for state police in his proposed budget even as they face a decrease in their take-home pay as their contributions to the Public Employees’ Retirement System are set to increase. In 2023, Lombardo vetoed a bill that would have helped boost state police take-home pay by cutting half their share of retirement contributions. Despite unethically using his law enforcement background for political gain on the campaign trail in 2022, Lombardo has done little to address the looming state police shortage, even going as far as blocking efforts to increase pay for officers, making our communities less safe.
Read more below:
- On some nights, just three, four, maybe five state police troopers are patrolling the entire Las Vegas valley, an area home to 2.3 million people and hundreds of thousands of tourists at once, leading to concerns about safety amid the department’s ongoing staffing shortage.
- “I don’t want to say that the people upstairs, the powers that be are not aware,” Dan Gordon, president of the Nevada Police Union, said. “I don’t think the priorities are in the right place.” The union represents about 1,200 state employees, including state police troopers.
- For Gordon, it’s a simple fix: Get more troopers on the road — prevent people from dying on the road.
- “It’s getting ridiculous,” Gordon said. “It’s an upward trend and it really shouldn’t be.”
- In 2024, 412 people died on Nevada roads — some on the freeways and routes where 218 troopers patrolled statewide, according to the latest data available. The state budget calls for 392 trooper positions, leading to a nearly 45% vacancy rate.
- The staffing shortage comes as death on Nevada’s roads continues to rise. In 2023, Nevada reported 1.4 deaths for every 100 million miles traveled versus the national average of 1.26, according to the department.
- In 2022, the 8 News Now Investigators uncovered similar startling data where just a few troopers patrolled the entire valley on certain nights. There were more troopers in the Las Vegas area then than there are now. The statewide vacancy rate that year was slightly higher at 50%.
- That was three legislative sessions ago. This was last time: “If we can’t start stopping the bleeding this year, we’re not sure we’ll be around by next year,” Brueggemann said during a legislative hearing in 2023.
- “Fewer troopers means slower response times, fewer impaired drivers stopped, faster speeds, deadlier crashes and more dangerous roads for everyone,” Lt. Col. Martin Mleczko said during a February hearing this legislative session.
- In 2023, to encourage more applicants and fewer department separations, lawmakers passed a 23% pay increase in an attempt to level with other police agencies. That year, the 8 News Now Investigators reported a starting state trooper made $21.15 per hour, compared to the $26.25 average for all Nevada police agencies — a 24% difference.
- Lawmakers will once again crash into an impending pay crisis because of another upcoming pay gap. Starting in July, the amount of money state police employees have to put into their state retirement accounts will erase those gains from two years ago.
- The 8.75% increase will severely diminish trooper take-home pay, the union warned. The Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) sets the rates.
- 8 News Now has repeatedly asked the department and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo for on-camera interviews. The governor has rescheduled several times since an initial request last fall and his office did not respond to a repeated request regarding an interview.
KLAS: Nearly half of Nevada trooper positions remain vacant: ‘More dangerous roads for everyone’
Key points:
- Nearly half of all Nevada State Police trooper positions are vacant two years after the Legislature worked to solve the staffing crisis and as leadership warns open positions are affecting safety.
- Around that time, state police reported a 50% vacancy rate in the Las Vegas area. A presentation given to the Nevada Legislature in 2021 included these startling statements: “Most highways are not covered on graveyard,” “Highway patrol may get to the point where they must turn away certain calls for service,” and “Response time to calls for service will continue to increase.”
- Leaders with the Department of Public Safety, which oversees Nevada State Police, presented their proposed budgets for the next two fiscal years to a joint legislative committee Friday. During the presentation, representatives from the departments said staff remains a critical issue.
- “Fewer troopers means slower response times, fewer impaired drivers stopped, faster speeds, deadlier crashes and more dangerous roads for everyone,” Lt. Col. Martin Mleczko said.
- In 2023, the Nevada Legislature increased state police pay to better align with other agencies. However, an increase in the percentage state employees will have to pay into the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) starting in July will offset these raises, the union representing state police warned.
- “Our law enforcement officers risk their lives daily to keep our state safe,” Nevada Police Union president Dan Gordon said. “It’s imperative that our legislators take immediate action to ensure that the retirement system does not become a financial burden on these dedicated public servants. We expect proactive involvement and innovative solutions from our lawmakers to address this urgent issue.”
- A chart shown to lawmakers during the committee meeting Friday revealed highway patrol substations in parts of rural Nevada have no staff. The 8 News Now Investigators first reported on this lack of staff three years ago.
- The staffing shortage comes as death on Nevada’s roads continues to rise. In 2023, Nevada reported 1.4 deaths for every 100 million miles traveled versus the national average of 1.26, according to the department.
- Leadership at the Department of Public Safety noted recruitment efforts over the past year have been successful, adding recruits tended to favor parole and probation over patrol.
- For the first time since 2017, more people joined the department than separated, leadership said.
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