A town hall on Jan. 12 drew some 300 participants to a grassroots group’s Zoom link to discuss the property crime crisis. A video of the event is on the Facebook page of the newly formed Clark County Public Safety Alliance.
The meeting was moderated by community leader Jim Mains, who helped organize the effort. At the outset, Michele Rudi and I, the other organizers, acknowledged that the event’s 90-minute limit precluded addressing the complex challenges of homelessness, the drug trade and untreated mental conditions. We stressed we intend to begin by pinpointing actions and pursuing results.
Our immediate target is the crisis of brazen, seemingly well-financed criminals, mainly healthy-appearing young men, helping themselves to equipment, cars, catalytic converters, shoplifted goods in homes, driveways, garages, and businesses. Mercilessly opportunistic, they commonly carry firearms or knives.
Sadly, small businesses are victims. On Rhododendron Drive in the Southcliff neighborhood, for example, a longtime landscaping service recently experienced a daytime theft of its leaf blower while the owner was working nearby. Not a “petty crime” to a small business.
