Deputy marshals report higher park contacts; three trailer cameras back in service

At the March 4 Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission meeting, Lieutenant Cheryl Manning of the Deputy City Marshals reported that calls for service and officer-initiated contacts at city parks increased in February, and the department has restored three trailer cameras to active duty.

Manning said the department logged dozens of calls and arrests across wards in February. "For Ward 1... Betty Wilson. We had 19 calls for service and 7 either citations or arrests," she said. She reported similar breakouts for other parks: Bearden Park (5 calls, 7 citations/arrests), Gary Dexter Park (15 calls, 6 citations/arrests), Justice Levitt Park (59 calls, 32 citations/arrests), Gary Rees Park (45 calls, 22 citations/arrests), Lorenzi Park (42 calls, 17 citations/arrests) and others. Manning emphasized that the totals include both dispatched calls and self-initiated contacts by marshals.

The lieutenant described a particularly difficult event at All American Park during a football tournament: "Of the 18, 12 of those calls actually came in during a football tournament, and it was a really challenging tournament. ... a lot of the parties either were gone if we were dispatched out there or they refused to cooperate and didn't wanna press charges." She said that contributed to a lower arrest count despite many calls for service.

Manning also reported the department's trailer camera fleet is fully restored after a prior outage: "The good news is from last time, we only had 1 working trailer cam and 2 were, inoperable. All 3 are back in service. During the month of February, we have 1 out at Betty Wilson Soccer Complex for the mayor's comp tournament. At Centennial Hills YMCA, we have 1 deployed there because of the recent response to multiple burglaries out there. And the third camera is right now deployed at City Parkway Garage to combat copper wire theft in the area."

Commissioners pressed for follow-up data and operational detail. Commissioner Cornwell asked whether the marshals' dispatches to the Las Vegas Healing Garden (to unlock the gate) could be tracked on the report. Manning said she would "get back to you on whether or not they're going around it, but I can ask for that to find out how many times they're dispatched out to open that gate." Chair Becker and other commissioners thanked Manning for the breakdown that distinguishes park violations from lodging-without-consent and other categories.

No formal action or vote was taken on the public-safety report; commissioners requested additional information about Healing Garden dispatches and ongoing hotspot deployment.