KRNV: “Nearly two years after the union announced there would be no coverage from 2-5 a.m. … statewide vacancy rate has actually increased slightly to 44%.”
Recent reporting found that nearly two years after it was announced that state police would not have the resources to patrol Reno between 2-5 a.m., the statewide vacancy rate has again increased under Joe Lombardo, causing our communities to be 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 decreased.
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 bipartisan legislation 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.
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KRNV: Reno unpatrolled: Nevada trooper shortage leaves highways vulnerable overnight, union says
Key points:
- The ongoing shortage of Nevada Highway Patrol troopers has reached critical levels, the union representing troopers says, with the vacancy rate rising and the agency still unable to cover graveyard shifts in the Reno area.
- Nearly two years after the union announced there would be no coverage from 2-5 a.m., that remains the case today as the NHP trooper statewide vacancy rate has actually increased slightly to 44%.
- Nevada Police Union president Dan Gordon sounded the alarm about the shortage in an extended interview with News 4-Fox 11, saying that it’s the worst he’s seen in his 18 years with NHP.
- It’s scary. And our resources are scattered. This is the worst that we’ve ever been.
- Gordon said the shortage is especially dangerous during major incidents, such as the deadly crash last Friday on I-580 on the Galena Creek Bridge.
- “It takes pretty much everybody that’s working in patrol to handle those (major) crashes. So that leaves the rest of Reno basically unpatrolled. So all the other calls, we’ll just have to get to them when we can,” he said.
- Proactive enforcement, such as patrolling highways for speeders or impaired drivers, is difficult to impossible with the current staffing levels, Gordon said, because they’re focused on crashes.
- According to Nevada State Police, of the 392 total trooper positions funded, only 218 are filled and 174 are vacant, making for a vacancy rate of over 44%.
- The reasons for the ongoing shortage aren’t complicated — there’s a significant pay gap between local police departments and state police, Gordon said.
- Even after troopers, as well as all state workers, received significant salary increases in the 2023 legislative session, the take-home pay still doesn’t compete to local departments when you account for retirement contributions.
- “You subtract 30% for the reduction for our retirement contribution compared to these outside agencies where the county or the local municipality pays that that PERS contribution. So there’s a huge difference in actual take home pay,” he said.
- A bill introduced in the 2023 legislative session would’ve increased the state contribution to 75%, instead of the current 50%. Democrats and a few Republicans passed the measure and sent it to Gov. Joe Lombardo, who vetoed the bill, citing concerns about ongoing costs.
2 News: Nevada State Police shortage causing fewer troopers on the roads
- The Nevada Police Union says this shortage is making proactive enforcement go down on the roads and they say it’s leading to an increase in speeding and crashes.
- If a major crash were to happen, NSP may have three or four units go to the scene, but when something like that happens, it means there’s no coverage on the rest of the area.
- “Our resources are being sucked, with what could be one incident,” said Dan Gordon, President, Nevada Police Union.
- To paint the picture on where staffing currently stands, Reno is supposed to have around 60 troopers patrolling the roads. Right now, they have about 25.
- Carson is supposed to have 20, but they have less than 10.
- 120 troopers are expected for Las Vegas, and there’s only 50.
- So, it’s about less than 50 percent for most of the state for patrol duties.
- Gordon says if they could close the gap, the roads would be much safer.
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