LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada’s University Police Services will be asking for a “critical labor shortage” designation at a meeting on Thursday with the Board of Regents.
Adam Garcia, Vice President of Public Safety Services and Director of University Police Services' Southern Command, says the safety of everyone at a state campus in Southern Nevada is their top priority.
He says in the Southern Command, which serves all of the four institutions of higher education in the valley, currently has 29 vacancies out of a staff of 75 but finding police officers has been a challenge.
Garcia says it is a problem now designated as a critical labor shortage.
"We have continued to struggle to recruit as well as retain individuals," Garcia said.
Safety is also top of mind for students at the university. They say they are constantly having to be more aware of their surroundings and they believe there is a need for more police presence on our campuses. Kiersten Chloe San Juan says her safety has been jeopardized on campus.
"Everywhere I go I feel like I have to look over my shoulder, which is why I don't like to walk on campus,” San Juan said.
She says recently while on campus, a man approached her and a friend. He began making sexually explicit comments to them.
"I was kind of looking around and that was the moment I realized no one was surveilling the area, which is why it was so easy for people to come in and out on campus," said San Juan.
Garcia says the biggest recruitment challenge is competing for candidates from the same pool as other agencies with higher starting salaries and better benefits.
To combat the problem, Garcia says his department is appealing to the Board of Regents Nevada System of Higher Education seeking a "critical labor shortage" designation. Under State Law, this would allow university police to be more lenient in their hiring practices for certain police services. This maneuver would help during the personnel shortage for up to two years. Garcia says so far staffing shortages have not impacted campus safety.
“We continue to provide services that are required of us, but that leaves us shorthanded," Garcia said.
According to the UNLV campus crime log, just this year more than 500 criminal violations have been reported at UNLV. Less than 60 have been reported at the other three institutions.
Garcia says if the Board of Regents approves this designation, university police will be able to hire retired people from the state prison system — or the PERS system — to help improve their services on campuses.
