Police shootings fall in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS -- A federal office that five years ago began examining Las Vegas police practices for a first-in-the-nation "collaborative" review is crediting the department for policy changes and a sharp drop in the number of officer-involved shootings.

After logging a record 25 shootings in 2010, Las Vegas police were involved in 16 shootings in 2015, a new report said, and the department noted last week that the number dropped to 10 in 2016.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, the head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said the 50-page follow-up by the Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services showed that changes and training have continued even after department scrutiny officially ended in May 2014.

"This report reinforces that our efforts are paying off and will keep us moving in a positive direction," Lombardo said.

Las Vegas in January 2012 became the first agency in the nation to undergo the review process. Criticism had reached a crescendo after a series of high-profile police shootings and findings by the Las Vegas Review-Journal that 142 people had been killed by Las Vegas police in a little more than a decade.

In November 2012, an initial report from the federal office called for an "organizational transformation" for the Police Department. A final report 18 months later said the department had already adopted nearly all the review group's 80 suggested changes.

A Section on 01/22/2017

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