LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – LVMPD wants to be the most technologically advanced police force in the country.
Sheriff Kevin McMahill sat down for a one-on-one with FOX5’s Kim Passoth to highlight some of the department’s new tech, how it is advancing policing, and what’s coming next.
Sheriff McMahill contends thanks to advancing tech and hard working officers, crimes are being solved today that wouldn’t have just a few years ago.
“Metro is… using all of its resources to solve cases that are difficult to solve,” Passoth questioned.
“You see, I get a little excited about that, right?,” McMahill responded.
“There’s a lot of things I attribute it to, but the first thing I want to make sure I tell you is that it comes from good police work, good detective work, exceptional leaders, relentless follow up, expectation from me as to what it is that we’re going to go out there… and they deliver every single time,” McMahill added.
One example of officers exceeding expectations: the firebombing of a Tesla Service Center earlier this year.
“We had nothing to go on and quite frankly, it was crossed my mind that this might be one of those cases that we may not be able to solve,” McMahill recounted. Small, blurry images helped crack the case.
“We had a headlight at a distance and then a taillight at a distance… we determined the make and model that had gone through this intersection along the path that he was at, that the LPR caught three times,” McMahill explained.
The LPR (license plate reader) helped a determined detective track down that car used to drive to the attack and arrest its owner.
“Drones, license plate readers, gunshot detection… There’s some game changing technologies that are going out there and it’s all designed to keep people safe,” McMahill explained. ShotSpotters are stationed throughout the community listening for gunshots and soon the technology will be paired with drones.
“You can be out in the neighborhood, take a gun out, shoot at somebody, shoot it in the air, whatever it is, that drone is going to get the GPS coordinate of where you’re at. It’s going to launch. It’s going to go right overhead before a 911 call ever could even get answered,” McMahill reported.
Sometimes the biggest breaks come from the smallest leads. Metro is working with the Vegas Justice League and Othram Labs using ever-advancing DNA technology to solve decades old cold cases like that of 14 year old Stephanie Isaacson’s who was murdered in1989. Her case was solved using the world’s smallest DNA sample, the equivalent of just 15 human cells. Metro also set to roll out a fleet of 10 Tesla Cybertrucks next month and a first-in-the nation SWAT Cybertruck in the next few months.
Another high-tech tool metro recently rolled out: the robo dog. It can be used during standoff situations keeping real police K9s out of danger.
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