Southern Nevada police tally costs of possible move to code red

LAS VEGAS -- Elevating security levels one last notch, to red, could cost a budget-busting $1 million or more per day for southern Nevada police agencies.

"We're looking at about $575,000 in overtime a week," Henderson Police Chief Michael Mayberry told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "If we had to do that for a week or two weeks, it would have a devastating impact on my budget."

Administrators said the Nevada Highway Patrol and North Las Vegas police each would spend slightly less than Henderson. Smaller departments in Boulder City and Mesquite would also face higher costs.

"It would be about $10,000 a week in overtime, which is nothing like (Las Vegas), but it's a lot of money for us," said Joe Szalay, deputy chief of the 19-member Mesquite Police Department.

Shifting the threat level from code orange to red could cost the 2,000-member Las Vegas police force $600,000 a day, said department Finance Director Karen Keller.

"We don't have the cushion of an emergency fund," she said.

With war imminent last week, police agencies in southern Nevada elevated their alert status to orange, meeting the federal Department of Homeland Security's warning of a high risk of a terrorist attack in the United States.

In and around Las Vegas, that meant stepped-up restrictions at some public buildings and facilities, and instructions for law enforcers to be more vigilant.

Shifting to red would mean implementing strict measures that agencies have been reluctant to describe. Officials said they would have to order massive police overtime -- with officers, emergency dispatchers and other employees working 12-hour shifts with no days off or vacations.

That's one reason authorities say a code red won't be enacted unless there is "a specific, viable and credible threat" to the region.

"We're not doing anything knee-jerk, because fiscal concerns are serious and we know money doesn't grow on trees," Las Vegas police Lt. Vincent Cannito said.

If forced into such massive spending, most departments would have to request additional money to carry their agencies through the fiscal year.

Highway Patrol trooper Jim Olschlager said law enforcement commanders would deal with the emergency first and figure out how to pay for it later.

"We might end up selling 'state trooper cookies,"' he said.