Flanked by different law enforcement officials, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo recently introduced a crime bill, eights weeks from the end of the 2025 legislative session.
Among other things, the bill would increase penalties for repeat offenders; it would lower the amount of fentanyl someone can possess to charge them with a felony; and it would lower the theft threshold required to charge someone with a felony from $1,200 to $750 dollars.
Opponents to the changes say it would increase incarceration and other costs at a time when Nevada can barely afford its basic needs. They also say more needs to be known about potential cuts in federal aid to the state.
One of the bill’s supporters is Assemblyman PK O’Neill. He's a former police officer and he serves the people of Assembly District 40, which includes Carson City.
O’Neill said it extends the period of time for bail hearings, giving rural parts of the state with limited staff the ability to be more prepared for hearings.
He also expressed dismay that California has a lower threshold for arresting someone than Nevada. “Which, automatically, I just shake my head at, when we always say how liberal California is, but yet you look how conservative they are on this pressing issue.”
If more people are arrested for more crimes, it will cost the state more money. An estimate was it would increase prison inmates by 300 people. O’Neill said he didn’t fiscal issues will be addressed in May after the state Economic Forum provides more insight into revenue.
“But in some ways, can we really afford to ... penalize our businesses with ... the retail theft issues?” he added.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is the largest law enforcement agency in the state. This year, it’s boasted drops in crime in many sectors, including a 35 percent drop in homicides.
Even with that, Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said the department supports the governor’s crime bill, adding that some areas of crime remain higher than in 2019, before the pandemic.
With more arrests, Koren said he wasn’t worried about inmate growth in the Clark County Detention Center. While the numbers fluctuate, he said it’s currently about 30 percent vacant. “It averages about 2,700 inmates... but we can have up to 4,000.”
As for the lower thresholds for different crimes, Koren said the department did an informal internal study in 2020 of “very violent” crime on the Strip. “More than half (of them) spent less than 2.3 days in jail, then 40 percent of them were arrested upon release pretty quickly thereafter on other charges.”
Guest: Dori Koren, assistant sheriff, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; PK O'Neill, Assemblyman, District 40
