Metro Police see calls for service drop following ‘Safe forest’ initiative

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Metro Police say they’ve seen a significant drop in calls for service in a neighborhood just west of the historic Commercial Center through their ‘Safe Forest’ initiative.

It’s an area Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom says is high on his radar, and has partnered with Metro to address.

“It’s part of my redevelopment area, it’s part of my district, and we’ve known for a long time it’s the most dangerous area in the county,” Segerblom said. “So, I talked to the Sheriff, and the Sheriff agreed that we need to put some more emphasis there.”

The initiative comes from Metro’s ‘Safe Village’ Initiative which started in West Las Vegas back in 2007. Now, over a decade later, several area commands have their own ‘Safe Village,’ or in South Central Area Command’s case, a ‘Safe Forest.’

“We’ve assigned specific officers to just work this area, and their goal is not to be out here arresting as many people as they can, their goal is to develop relationships,” South Central Area Command Bureau Commander William Matchko explained.

The two officers assigned to the area walk the neighborhood daily. Their goal is to make it safer by bridging the gap between themselves and neighbors.

“A lot of people don’t trust us, all they do is see the badge and think we’re out to get them,” Officer Antonio Dones, who’s assigned to the area, shared.

Matchko says partnerships with local nonprofits, like Casa De Luz, are helping change that.

“When we start to say, ‘hey, you can start to trust this officer,’ or ‘you can trust this community partner,’ people really listen,” Casa De Luz Executive Director Maggie Clark said.

Clark says she’s already noticing the relationships between neighbors and officers are improving.

“Before, when the police officers would show up at our center, the kids would duck and hide and run. Now when they see them, they run to them and they’re excited to see them,” she shared.

Matchko says collaborating with nonprofits is only one piece of the equation.

They’re partnering with property owners who want to make the neighborhood safer, and identifying absentee landlords who don’t.

He says they’re also working with Clark County Code enforcement to make sure buildings are up to code.

“Making sure that people have a safe place to live, making sure there’s no abandoned cars, no graffiti,” Matchko said.

He says since the initiative began six months ago, calls for service in the area have dropped by about 50%.

Although there’s always more work to be done, Dones says he’s already noticed a change for the better.

“We’ve had people come up to us and say ‘oh thank you so much, I can actually walk my kids down the street,’” Dones expressed.

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