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Thank you Las Vegas DPS POP Team

Writer's picture: stephaniehaydenstephaniehayden

Las Vegas Marshals Mazza, Woldewahariat, and Espinoza (left to right) during my Ride-Along with the POP Team at the Fremont Street Experience Jan. 10, 2025
Las Vegas Marshals Mazza, Woldewahariat, and Espinoza (left to right) during my Ride-Along with the POP Team at the Fremont Street Experience Jan. 10, 2025

After about 8 months living in Las Vegas, I've met passionate animal welfare and rescue groups, the Las Vegas Dept Public Safety, the DPS Marshals, and joined the Citizens Police Academy 3rd cohort. I'm learning a lot about what people love about this city - it's not the stuff you think about when you think of Vegas.


What's particularly unusual here is the way the Public Sector responds to the residents when they ask for action.


For example, I found a little dog running into a busy intersection and rescued him - which many folks have done. I posted on Nextdoor asking what I should do to get this pup medical attention and to a rescue group - here's what happened in 24 hours:


  1. 10+ rescue groups wrote me to foster Enzo (that's his rescue name), get medical help, and hold people accountable for dumping him, if he had in fact been neglected/abused.

  2. I was contacted and interviewed by multiple news agencies to get the word out re; Enzo in hopes to bring charges

  3. I was Invited to a join a City Councilperson's Animal Welfare Task Force where rescue orgs lobbied for more resources

  4. I spoke with the Chief of Public Safety, Jason Potts, who has the Animal Protection Services organization under his org who kicked off an investigation and his APS officers used my information to track down what had happened with Enzo.

  5. I was invited to apply to DPS Citizens Police Academy (CPA) to learn more about what DPS does here in Las Vegas.


I don't know about you, but I found all of this shocking and impressive. Have you ever seen a response like this for anything you've asked from city and its neighbors?


I attended the CPA and after I graduated I got the amazing opportunity to do a Ride-Along with the POP Team (Problem-Oriented-Policing). These folks are growing community relationships one person at a time. I'll be writing short blogs about what I've learned. I really recommend you try to join a CPA cohort and if you want to request a Ride-Along you can write here: DPSRecruitment@LasVegasNevada.gov



Here are a a few videos from that Friday night to give you a feel for the Fremont Street Experience and the POP Team Marshals:


Officers Mazza and Espinoza leading the walk-along portion of my Ride-Along with the POP Team


Office Mazza explaining how the POP Team looks at working with Fremont Street Experience



Officers Mazza, Woldewahariat, and Espinoza introduce themselves after a nice woman offered to take our picture which turned into a video so long we introduced ourselves twice :).


A Michael Jackson impersonator invites the Marshals in to dance with him at Fremont Street Experience - cute.

I'll be posting more short stories about DPS in the future, please subscribe to my newsletter to stay connected with happenings and new creative building blocks.


January 2025


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