Las Vegas Strip Enacts Possible Ban For All Criminals

Clark County Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously extended an ordinance on Las Vegas Strip bans to criminals. Now, authorities can possibly ban those convicted of any felony or misdemeanor.

The ordinance will be enacted “in the next couple of months,” according to Clark County Commissioner Jim Gordon, who introduced it in response to a 15.8%  jump in total crime last year on the Strip.

The Strip is not located in the City of Las Vegas. It’s part of the unincorporated Clark County town of Paradise, Nev.

The whole idea here is to give the courts another tool to assist us in keeping the criminal element off the boulevard,” Gibson said at the meeting.

Previously, judges were allowed to ban drug dealers and prostitutes from re-entering the Las Vegas Strip for up to a year. Violating the ban would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison and/or a $1,000 fine.

Tourism Associations Pushed

The amendment received a big push from Las Vegas tourism associations, whose representatives urged a yes vote from commissioners at the meeting.

We view this as a very important public safety tool,” said Virginia Valentine with the Nevada Resorts Association. “We want our visitors, our guests, our employees to feel safe in the resort corridor.”

Added Lori Nelson-Kraft with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority: “The public health and safety of our visitors is of the utmost importance, and our visitors having a positive and safe experience is our top priority.”

Affect on Street Performers, Homeless

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) previously expressed concern about the possible disproportionate effect this amendment would have on homeless people and street performers. An ACLU spokesperson told KVVU-TV last week that the ban would encourage businesses to report all homeless people and street performers, hoping to either get them banned or locked up for violating previous bans.

The Clark County law governing the Strip considers “sleeping upon the public sidewalk” and “obstructing, delaying, hindering, blocking, hampering, or interfering with the pedestrian passage” crimes. This law has been used to remove homeless people and street performers.

We are not out to get street performers,” Gibson said at the meeting. “We are out to get people who are committing crimes. When you think about the way we are addressing homelessness, it is more about trying to figure out how to respond to their needs, how to get them into housing.”

As part of the amendment, the commission redrew its map of the corridor it defines by deleting Tropicana Avenue east of The Strip, which contains only residential apartments and extending it a block west of Arville Street to include the Orleans Hotel & Casino. The boundaries remain Sahara Avenue in the north and Russell Road in the south.

Crimes on the Las Vegas Strip include carrying an open glass container of alcohol, smoking marijuana, feeding pigeons, and even cursing. (Read 15 of the Weirdest Laws in Las Vegas.)