Las Vegas Police release five-year use of force report

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - On June 8, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department released a 76-page report on the department’s use of force and vehicle pursuits over the past five years.

The annual statistical report from the Internal Oversight and Constitutional Policing Bureau covers 2018-2022. It noted that LVMPD created the Office of Internal Oversight in 2012 to “provide an ongoing review process for all issues surrounding the use of deadly force by officers.”

The report begins by stating that the jurisdictional population in 2022 was 1,676,087 and that 1,480,183 events were generated. An LVMPD officer-involved shooting occurred in 14 of those, or .0009%. Over the past five years, the number of OIS incidents ranged from a low of 10 to a high of 22, and subjects were armed in 96% of those incidents.

Reportable non-deadly force was used in 905 events (.0611%) in 2022, and those non-deadly force incidents ranged from a low of 867 to a high of 941 during the period of the report.

“Empty hand tactics has consistently been the most used force type and K-9 has an average effectiveness of 99% over the 5-year period,” the report added.

The report stated that there were 301,228 vehicle stops by LVMPD last year, with pursuits occurring in .0272% of those (82). Over the five-year study period, pursuit incidents ranged from 44 to 82 annually.

“Most vehicle pursuits were initiated for felony offenses and lasted five minutes or less,” the report said.

Detailed charts and graphs displayed statistics for multiple other categories, including injuries, actions of subjects, and contributing factors in incidents. It also included demographics for those involved in use of force incidents, for both police and suspects. Those included the following:

• In 2022, 42% of subjects involved in a vehicle pursuit were black, which is a decrease of three percentage points from 2021.
• In 2022, 24% of subjects involved in a vehicle pursuit were Hispanic, which is an increase of two percentage points from 2021.
• In 2022, 22% of subjects involved in a vehicle pursuit were white, which is an increase of three percentage points from 2021.

Analysis of vehicle pursuits included statistics on distance, duration and speed. Air units were dispatched in 40% of vehicle pursuits last year. Below is a graph showing the number of vehicle pursuits by year.

A separate section analyzed the use of body worn cameras, stressing the need for accountability.

“Body worn cameras (BWC) are a valuable tool for promoting professionalism, public trust and transparency in policing by recording citizen contacts with officers,” it said. It then cited a 91% body worn camera activation rate by officers in 2022. There were 338 tactical review board findings, 28 use of force review board findings, and 27 awareness reports.

Those 10 instances were settled as follows:

• Six resulted in a written reprimand
• Two resulted in minor suspension hours
• One resulted in major suspension hours
• One resulted in termination

The department has a 14-step “Cycle of Accountability and Transparency” following an officer-involved shooting.

The complete report is available here.

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