The issue of street peddlers and panhandlers on the Las Vegas Strip has been a problem for years but now with the increased violence on the boulevard, the casinos are looking to clean up the streets. The famous tourist corridor has been the scene of three murders on the sidewalks and one on the pedestrian bridge above the street as reported by Yahoo! News.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police stepped up patrols along the famous tourist corridor and now the casinos on the Strip are looking to handle other issues with the added staff. They are hoping the added patrols can cut down on the street peddlers, vagrants and character performers who are causing congestion on the sidewalks and the pedestrian bridges.
The Las Vegas Sun spoke to former Las Vegas Mayor and now Senior Vice President of communications for Caesars Entertainment Jan Jones about Strip safety. Jones "Our failure to enact comprehensive solutions in a reasonable manner is jeopardizing the image of Las Vegas. It's reached the point that there's a dangerous perception of our city."
The summer months on the Strip are especially nasty and unpleasant. The streets fill with smut peddlers attempting to force business cards with naked "escorts" pictured on them and panhandlers who obstruct pedestrians paths on the sidewalks and pedestrian bridges.
The ground is sticky from spilled drinks, melted ice cream and a mix of discarded naked business cards scattered on the concrete. Any visitor who undertakes the mission of trying to navigate all this and the phony movie and cartoon characters asking for money, will reconsider ever walking down the boulevard on a future visit.
Now the Clark County Commission is looking into a special tax to add police officers in the tourist corridor. County Commissioner Steve Sisolak is backing the proposal for the use tax but more police presence and a special tax is not the answer.
A 2007 Supreme Court decision handcuffs Metro Police allowing the smut peddlers and the costumed characters to run the streets. Sheriff Doug Gillespie is forming a committee to address the problem. The committee will include the ACLU lawyers, county officials, resort owners and the peddlers.
The goal of the committee and their meetings will be to come to a mutually agreeable situation that does not compromise the peddlers first amendment rights and does not upset the visitors walking the Strip. Gillespie is looking to ease congestion by spreading out the activity and dispersing high concentrations of activity.
Todd Jacobs is a Las Vegas resident with extensive knowledge and contacts in the city and surrounding areas of Nevada. To contact Todd with a potential news story about Las Vegas or Nevada email him or direct message him on Twitter @LVIIToddJacobs.
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