The upcoming election will decide who will wear Clark County's sheriff badge for the next four years, overseeing a half-billion-dollar annual budget and more than 2,600 sworn police officers. Voters will decide whether the county and Las Vegas continue to be plagued by a sheriff beholden to city/county power brokers and big-money elites, or one who serves all of the community's citizens.
How does a Clark County voter determine who is the right sheriff, the candidate worthy of holding the most powerful elected office in Southern Nevada? If voters rely on TV, radio and newspaper advertising, they virtually guarantee that the candidate with the most campaign money will win. If citizens believe vicious attack ads, misleading propaganda and outright lies pitched by arrogant, self-serving unions, bought-off politicians and Las Vegas Strip billionaires, who routinely use outlaw police officers as "enforcers," I guarantee the county and Las Vegas will continue to be ruled by the most venal, deadly Cartel of Corruption in America.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be writing and posting a number of opinion pieces in a series entitled "The Right Sheriff." These will cover a broad spectrum of issues that may help Clark County's voters cut through campaign rhetoric, ask hard-hitting questions, and, ultimately, elect a professional lawman dedicated to serving and protecting you, Metro's real employer.
Subjects to be covered in detail will include:
• Follow the Money.
• "Endorsed By..." — Telling Evidence
• Politicos and Power Brokers
• Who Gets the PPA Union's Love & Kisses?
• Who's the Target of Slander, Lies and Scaremongering?
• The Company He Keeps: County Commissioners are a Clue
• Special Favors...like Free Helicopter Rides?
• Attacking Metro's Miserable Morale
• Officer-Involved Shootings: Minimizing, Investigating & Finding The Truth
• SWAT: Reigning-In Wannabes
• SWAT Versus CIRT: Who's in Charge?
• Law Enforcement vs. Peace Officers
• Metro's Motto: Partnership Pablum or Protect & Serve?
• Academy Training: A Far-Overdue Update
• Constitutional Rights: Smarter Cops = Fewer Lawsuits
• Bodycams & Dashcams
• Integrity & Trust
* Credibility: How to Regain It?
* Earn It!
* Third Party Investigations or "Cops Investigating Cops & Reporting to Cops"
* Memo to District Attorney: Do Your Job
* Zero Tolerance: You Lie, You're Gone
* Drug Testing of Officers (Including for Steroid Use)
• Hiring: Psych Evals, Background Checks & Intelligence Testing
* Hiring Military Veterans: Caution Advised
• Rid the Ranks of Rogues
• Honor or Anarchy? It's Up to You
As I recounted in "The Permit," a novel based on Erik Scott's Murder-by-Metro, Americans are under siege by outlaw, rogue and militarized police officers, who routinely brutalize and kill innocent citizens. "Civilians" are fed up with bad cops—and their local, state and federal "official" allies, who routinely protect badged killers at the expense of citizen taxpayers—and are ready to revolt.
Across the country, honorable, professional lawmen, who are dedicated to excising the cancer of corruption, thugs and killers from their forces, had better be elected this year, or the nation will erupt in armed rebellion. And the initial explosion of violence could happen in Southern Nevada...if voters fail to elect "The Right Sheriff."
William B. Scott
