LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - The City of Las Vegas has an ambitious goal of making Fremont Street the safest tourist corridor in America, and they’ve enlisted the help of a new team to do just that.
It’s called the POP Team, which stands for Problem Oriented Policing. It’s made up of two Deputy City Marshals, Officers Janelle Mazza and Carla Espinoza.
City of Las Vegas Director of Public Safety Chief Jason Potts says they’re shifting from random patrol to a more targeted response.
“Targeted policing means looking at the data, going after the hot people in the hot places at the hot times,” Potts says. “I like to use the analogy of fishing with a spear versus fishing with a net.”
Mazza and Espinoza are focused strictly on the Fremont Street Experience and surrounding area.
Starting at 10 a.m., they spend their days patrolling the corridor on foot, building relationships with repeat offenders.