LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Initially of the 12 months, Clark County commissioners handed an ordinance creating “pedestrian flow zones” on the Las Vegas Strip’s pedestrian bridges, citing a disproportionately increased variety of police calls to the bridges. Stopping or standing in these circulation zones can result in a misdemeanor quotation.
To this point in 2024, Metro cops made at the least 122 arrests for Clark County’s pedestrian circulation zone ordinance, in keeping with a response to eight Information Now’s data request.
The penalty for breaking the circulation zone regulation is as much as six months in jail or a high quality as much as $1,000 — or a mixture of the 2. Las Vegas guests who spoke with 8 Information Now usually are not followers of the regulation.
“I think it’s annoying,” Wes Mazahreh mentioned.
A pedestrian bridge on the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (KLAS)
Mazahreh is visiting from New York for the fourth 12 months within the row. He’s crossed pedestrian bridges earlier than and after the county’s circulation zone regulation.
“I noticed there’s a lot less people doing those panhandling things,” Mazahreh mentioned. “I think everyone should have a right to earn some money. Listen, to me it’s better than being criminals out there. If they have an art they want to display and somebody wants to throw them some change, why not?”
Mazahreh believes the regulation infringes on individuals’s rights, and he is not alone. Nevada’s ACLU is representing two people who find themselves suing Clark County, saying the regulation violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments, in addition to the Individuals with Disabilities Act.
Athar Haseebullah, govt director of Nevada’s ACLU, says the lawsuit is within the discovery section, the place every get together gathers proof.
A pedestrian bridge on the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (KLAS)
“We have, what, over 100 arrests for a BS crime that the county just created out of thin air, which is stopping on a publicly funded pedestrian bridge,” Haseebullah mentioned.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Division despatched an announcement to eight Information Now:
“Patrolling the pedestrian bridges and surrounding area will continue to be a regular patrol activity for officers assigned to the Strip. Officers will continue to respond to calls for service and issues our cameras notice on the bridges. The new ordinance is another tool available to officers to ensure the safety of visitors and residents. The goal is to educate the public regarding the new ordinance in an effort to have voluntary compliance when a subject, who is obstructing the pedestrian bridge, is approached by officers. In the rare occasion someone objects to the officer’s warning, the officer can now take action and either issue a citation or make an arrest.”
