A new report by the American Independent outlines how under his leadership, the use of force by Nevada GOP gubernatorial nominee Joe Lombardo’s police department surged by 22 percent — disproportionately impacting Black people.
Per the American Independent, “Black people were the subjects of 43% of nondeadly use-of-force incidents, even though recent census data shows only 12% of the population of Las Vegas is Black.”
Lombardo, who helped write Las Vegas’ use of force guidelines, has boasted about his tenure as Clark County sheriff. That’s despite the escalation of force against Nevadans, including multiple incidents of people dying during interactions with Clark County police.
The American Independent: GOP candidate Joe Lombardo oversaw 22% increase in Las Vegas police use-of-force incidents
Emily Singer | November 1, 2022
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The Clark County sheriff and Republican nominee for governor of Nevada helped craft Las Vegas’ use of force guidelines.
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A report issued by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 2021 shows that the use of nondeadly force by its officers surged by 22% over the previous five years of Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo’s leadership.
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Even while the number of reported use-of-force incidents has climbed, data from the Nevada Department of Public Safety shows that violent crime has been declining in the state over the past four years. And despite the increase in use-of-force incidents, which the department’s own report shows has disproportionately affected Black people, Lombardo considered the results of the report an endorsement of the conduct of the police department he oversees.
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In an opinion column published in the Las Vegas Sun in 2016, Lombardo called the LVMPD a “a model agency on use-of-force practices. Our success is the result of learning from mistakes, changing our business practices and involving our community in the process.”
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According to the report, Black people were the subjects of 43% of nondeadly use-of-force incidents, even though recent census data shows only 12% of the population of Las Vegas is Black. At the same time, use of force against white people, who make up 58.5% of the population, has steadily declined over the past five years, from 37% in 2017 to 29% in 2021.
Published: Nov 1, 2022