The following was published on page 12A of the Las Vegas Sun on October 7, 1999:

I implore all residents of Las Vegas, especially our elected officials at City Hall, to put aside budgetary arguments over saving each taxpayer a few pennies a day and focus on the importance of effectively protecting the lives of all citizens, to include our dedicated police officers.

My son is a Metro Police officer and I am a former South Carolina deputy sheriff. I was shot in the line of duty during a shoot-out with two armed robbers because of a mishandled 911 call.

Instead of several officers being sent to a robbery in progress, I was sent alone to handle a “911 hang-up” due to human error in transferring the call from one agency to another.

Additionally, three young people, being held at gunpoint, were nearly killed. I am confident that it is highly unlikely an incident such as this would occur with Metro. However, I am equally confident that a worse tragedy would occur if Clark County returns to a separate police and sheriff’s department.

A vote to dismantle Metro is not a vote to save a few dollars, but a vote to send police officers needlessly towards harm’s way.

Daniel Michael Jennings