LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Sheriff Kevin McMahill outlined some of his goals for the year ahead in Tuesday's State of the Department address.
You can watch the full address here:
McMahill began by reiterating his promise when he campaigned to become sheriff: "Kick the s*** out of crime."
He added his goal was to increase community policing and inject humanity into everything the department did.
LVMPD saw decreases in aggravated assault, robbery and burglary over 2024.
FATAL CRASHES
In 2024, 160 people died on Las Vegas roadways, according to Undersheriff Andy Walsh. He said that was similar to what the department experienced the year before.
“When we talk about homicides and we talk about the effect that that has on our community and our neighborhoods, this is twice as tragic because every one of these is preventable and every one of us in this room has an obligation to make sure that an event like this … 160 a year, that’s every other day practically.”
Walsh said the department wrote more than 81,000 traffic citations for 2023 and more than 121,000 in 2024, yet the number of fatal crashes increased.
“How is this possible in a community as generous as ours, as community-oriented as we all are, that we can be that selfish on our roadways?”
He said that while the department plans to write up to 40,000 more citations this year, he challenged those in attendance to do their part while on the roads to help reduce that number for 2025.
WATCH | Channel 13 reporter Anyssa Bohanan broke down the number of incidents Metro responded to in 2024, showing an increase for the fourth year in a row.
OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTINGS
The Las Vegas Metro Police Department saw 17 officer-involved shootings in 2024, which was a jump from 10 in the year prior.
“These are events where our officers responded to critical incidents where they felt their life or the life of someone else was in danger,” Walsh said. “We constantly challenge ourselves to come up with new and innovative ways to determine if there are ways where we can reduce officer-involved shootings and the use of force, particularly deadly force, in our community.”
Walsh said the department is undergoing training with four core principles: de-escalation, information sharing, resource allocation, and proficiency.
“Twelve times during the next calendar year, our patrol officers will be exposed to the subject matter experts; that’s a change from twice a year. So we’re going to substantially increase that number — put them in training scenarios and give them some stress inoculation side by side with those subject matter experts … these are some images of what the training looks like,” Walsh said.
VIOLENT GUN CRIME UNIT
LVMPD created a team in the second half of the year specifically to focus on non-fatal shootings. McMahill said the department already had a 95% solve rate for homicides but that the success rate was lacking in instances when there wasn’t a death.
Over 43 shootings investigated so far, last year the team saw a 100% solve rate. McMahill said the department hovered at 30%-40% before the team was created.
“They are making the world we live in safer, they’re making Las Vegas a safe place for people to visit, they’re making it a safe place for ppl to work and they’re making it a safe place for all of us to live,” Walsh said.
DRONES
Those in attendance received a live demonstration of the department’s drone.
McMahill said the next iteration is a larger drone that would be deployed to 10 hot spots in the community.
“Imagine this: a gunshot goes off, it triangulates where it’s at, gives that info to a drone, the drone launches off of the police station,” he said. “An individual will be able to take over the piloting of the drone. We’ll have real-time intelligence to be able to go in there and continue to save human beings and their lives. It’s an absolute game-changer, but it’s not about spying. This is about focusing solely on making our community the vision we’re trying to achieve which is the safest community in America.”
McMahill added that LVMPD is the first department in the country to receive permission from the FAA to operate their drones beyond the line of sight.
WELLNESS BUREAU
Chief Administrative Officer James Kilber opened by discussing the department’s Wellness Bureau.
“We can take care of everything from PTSD to family/marriage problems to addiction problems, to you name it," Kilber previously told Channel 13’s Justin Hinton. "We're here. It's free and accessible and it's confidential."
WATCH | Justin Hinton got a tour of the facility earlier this year.
He added that the bureau is seeing 425 visits a month, highlighting the need for a service like this to the LVMPD.
911 CALL TIMES
When McMahill took office, the Communications Bureau was 50% staffed. Now it is 100% staffed.
“We had to change a couple things. We had to change the environment. We also had to change the culture. The sheriff had to make some hard decisions, but for the right reasons,” Kilber said.
Kilber also spoke on improvements in call times.
“Our TSF (telephone service factor) was 41% in June 2023. That means we answered only 41% of our calls in less than 15 seconds. The average hold time was 55 seconds. It’s an eternity when you have an emergency.”
Now the department sits at a TSF of 95% with an average weight time of two seconds, Kilber said.
CLARK COUNTY DETENTION CENTER
A major renovation is coming to the south tower which was built in 2002
Kilber said CCDC is the largest mental health facility, addiction center, and holds the largest population of unhoused individuals in the state of Nevada
“We can’t arrest our way out of these problems. We have to address them,” he said.
Kilber said a new medical team was brought in last December and spoke on a program called DSD Cares. The program brings in resources from the community to help get people back on their feet, including housing, rehab, mentors, and more.
There is also a 60-bed facility dedicated to addressing mental illness in the jail system.
CYBERTRUCKS
Through donations, the department is getting 10 new Tesla Cybertrucks added to its fleet.
“These officers are going to be approached by people all over the community to see this thing,” McMahill said.
AREA COMMAND EXPANSIONS
A new area command is coming to east Las Vegas at the intersection of Sahara and Hollywood
There will also be a Skye Canyon substation coming to northwest Las Vegas to protect the needs of the community and expand public safety.
HIRING
The department’s vacancy currently sits at 4%, but Walsh called on the community to help get that number to 0% over the next few years.
CHALLENGES AND GOALS
McMahill acknowledged the challenges facing the department, such as negative headlines regarding officer arrests and lawsuits as well as unrest in the community with the new presidential administration.
He also pointed to the court system as a weak point to enforcing traffic violations.
“Writing more tickets did nothing to resolve our fatal crashes. These non-criminal traffic citations have failed, in my opinion. Red light cameras is something I’m fighting for because I’m sick and tired of picking people up off our streets because of the bad and selfish behavior of the drivers in our community.”
Looking ahead to 2025, McMahill outlined he wanted to see less than 125 traffic fatalities, fewer than 100 homicides, and reduce officer-involved shootings by 50%.
As a final note, McMahill observed a moment of silence for Officer Colton Pulsipher, who died in a wrong-way crash last December.
WATCH | Community says final goodbye to Metro officer killed in wrong-way crash
"Let's go kick some ass and God bless each and every one of you."