Las Vegas Paiute Tribe maintains a low-profile police force

Wednesday, March 14, 2012  

The Las Vegas Paiute Tribe of Nevada is proud of its low-key police force.

Officers patrol the tribe's 18-acre reservation in downtown Las Vegas and the much alrger 3,800-acre reservation northwest of Las Vegas. Felonies are rare and most of the calls are about minor disturbances or shoplifting at the tribe's businesses.

But that doesn't mean the officers aren't busy. They have authority to enforce state law off the reservation, Chairwoman Tonia Means points out.

"They can, and they do," Means told The Las Vegas Review-Journal of the tribe's police force.

Tribal officers have been involved in some high-profile incidents over the last decade, though most of those cases involved non-Indians.

Get the Story:
Paiute officers keep peace in downtown Las Vegas (The Las Vegas Review-Journal 3/14)