Policing is one of the most expensive services on which our taxes pay.
It’s not just cities like Reno and Las Vegas that deal with the logistics and costs of law enforcement - it’s a big expense on college campuses, too.
One year ago, the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) board of regents asked the University of Nevada Las Vegas and the College of Southern Nevada to come up with a plan to consolidate police forces.
It's a model that Thom Reilly, chancellor of NSHE, said has worked well with the Northern Nevada campuses at the University of Nevada Reno, Truckee Meadows Community College and Desert Research Institute.
But this is not the north, and the two major institutions in southern Nevada couldn't come to an agreement.
“UNLV felt that consolidation could occur and there could be cost savings while CSN felt there would be considerable obstacles in consolidating and that the cost would be substantial,” Reilly told KNPR's State of Nevada.
Because the two reports about the issue by the two institutions were so wildly different, the board then approved a plan to hire an outside consultant to see where the two could come together.
Reilly said CSN is different from UNLV in a lot of ways and the college was concerned about pay issues and whether it could keep the same level of service.
“CSN seems to have more of an appetite for a statewide system, which is something we’re actually exploring also than they are with UNLV,” Reilly said.
The report by the consultant could take several months, Reilly said, because NSHE wants them to talk to campus police, students, faculty, staff, and administration at both institutions before making recommendations to the board of regents.
Thom Reilly, chancellor of the board of regents, Nevada System of Higher Education