LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Law enforcement is pledging to keep our roadways safe and bring down crime in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Metro Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill laid out his goals in Tuesday's State of the Department address.
Channel 13 was there to find out what exactly is being done to keep you and your family safe.
Over the last year, we've reported on the number of traffic fatalities in our valley. Those numbers are still on the rise— even as the department issues more citations than ever before.
Metro is now promising to put even more time and resources into tackling this issue in hopes of keeping the number of fatalities under 125.
That may seem like a high number, but it is a big improvement compared to what we saw in 2024.
Crashes happen in an instant, and all too often, there's no time to react. Jamie Brooks learned that the hard way when her son nearly died in one.
“I just wish I could trade places with him,” Brooks said.
On Sept. 9, 2024, Thomas 'Eddie' Stanton was involved in a crash. Stanton and his friend were hit by an alleged drunk driver who ran a red light at the intersection of Desert Inn and Boulder Highway. Their car instantly became a mangled mess of metal.
WATCH: Las Vegas mother fights for son’s care while DUI driver remains free
Five people were hurt and Stanton was left on life support.
How do you live with yourself? That was your choice that night to drive at a high rate of speed, drunk. And that happened so many times in this town. Something needs to change. The laws have to change.
That crash is just one of hundreds that happened last year in Metro's jurisdiction— 160 of them being fatal.
“When you think about 160 over the course of a year, that’s every other day practically.”
One of Metro's effects to curb deadly crashes has proven to be a disappointment.
In 2023, Metro issued over 81,000 traffic citations. In 2024, that number nearly doubled— yet, the number of fatalities went up.
WATCH: Metro Police Department statistics show traffic fatalities increase for fourth year in a row
“We wrote over 121,000 citations, but the number of fatal accidents increased by two.”
Sheriff McMahill called the approach a failure, adding that writing more tickets wasn't enough to make an impact on road safety.
Writing more tickets did nothing to resolve the fact that our fatal accidents went up. We gotta start tracking what is actually happening with these tickets. People are not being held accountable. Period.
For Brooks, the need for change is personal. Her son's life was changed forever and his story is a painful reminder of the consequences of reckless driving.
“This could be the difference of saving his life and him coming out of this or him not making it. I have to be his strength… I have to try and set aside my emotions right now and fight for him because he can’t fight for himself.”
While Metro's goal is to reduce traffic fatalities to under 125 this year, we'll have to wait and see if that goal translates into safer roads.
