Las Vegas City Wire

Nevada currently has the third-highest murder rate in the country, making it difficult for large cities like Las Vegas to staff the necessary number of police officers.

There are cases when only three or four troopers are available to patrol major roadways and freeways in the Las Vegas Valley, according to 8 News Now.

Despite the area's rapid growth and rising crime rates, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) states it is doing everything possible to hire additional officers, according to a KTNV report.

“Overall, we are well over 100, 150 positions short, hiring has been extremely difficult,” Nevada State Police Deputy Director Sheri Brueggemann said. “Applications are few and far between.”

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which reports losing over 200 officers per year since 2016, attributes the decline in personnel to retirement, the present political atmosphere and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, the state has a murder rate of 9.1 per 100,000 population, according to World Population Review.

This increase in the homicide rate mirrors a nationwide trend, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have found that the homicide rate in the U.S. increased by 30% between 2019 and 2020, the highest annual increase since 1905.

Additionally, violent crimes in the U.S. increased by 4.6% from 2019 to 2020, reaching a rate of 398.5 crimes per 100,000 people in 2020, according to data from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer.

As a consequence of the increase in violent crimes, police departments throughout the U.S. are now struggling to keep their officers and hire new recruits.

“Police departments across the country are fighting to contain this increase in violent crime but they are understaffed, under-resourced and struggling to hire and retain good, qualified officers,” Andy Edmiston, director of government affairs for the National Association of Police Organizations, stated.

According to Fox News, several departments blame their staffing issues on the shift in public opinion toward law enforcement as a result of the recent discussions regarding police reform and the lethal use of force.

Joe Marone, a 22-year-old recruit who is just months away from graduating from the Eastern Missouri Police Academy in Lake St. Louis, expressed his concerns regarding the current shortage.

"Knowing that you might not have a partner to respond fast because of the low number of officers right now at departments is one of my fears," Marone said.

The VICTIM Act (the "Violent Incident Clearance and Technological Investigative Methods Act of 2021"), which was submitted to Congress in October 2021, aims to help address this issue by allocating funds to local police departments, according to an AZ Big Media report.

These additional funds would enable departments to hire and retain police officers as well as provide essential training and equipment.