East valley residents learn lessons about safety, resources

They met April 10 inside of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2285 Tree Line Drive, where they shared tips and information on how to be better neighbors and improve their communities.

Speakers from government and law enforcement agencies explained whom to call for the issues affecting their neighborhoods. For example, while the Metropolitan Police Department can handle emergencies and non-emergencies, agencies such as Clark County code enforcement can handle more minor issues such as boarding up abandoned houses and illegal dumping.

Former Metro officer and current constable Tony Longo organized the event, the third of its kind, he said. He estimated about 300 people attended, although he was hoping for another hundred or so.

The agencies pushed out the information he had hoped would be helpful to residents, he said.

“I think it hit the mark,” Longo said.

They also discussed ways people can keep their families and homes safe.

Burglaries and car thefts are common in the area, Metro crime-prevention specialist Jay Basile told the crowd. He encouraged people to ensure their house wasn’t the darkest on the block. And replacing a half-inch screw in a front door with a 3-inch screw can prevent a kicked-in door, Basile said.

Many objects in an average household are made of plastic, according to Clark County Fire Department Battalion Chief Chris Blackburn.

“And that’s a problem because plastic burns really hot and really fast,” Blackburn said. Flames move toward oxygen, he said, and a room can be engulfed in flames in about three minutes. This makes it particularly important for residents to close all of their doors before going to bed to prevent fire from spreading out of a room.

He also emphasized changing batteries in smoke detectors.

“Your life is worth at least a dollar,” he said.

Much of the land east of Hollywood Boulevard is public land, Longo said. The Bureau of Land Management’s chief law enforcement officer for Southern Nevada, Stephanie Clark, reminded residents they can’t dump, shoot, off-road drive or smoke marijuana on public lands. She also encouraged residents to help clean up the public land on East Lake Mead Boulevard and to form a more formal community group to oversee the area.

“I need the community to buy into this,” she said.

An east valley resident of about 20 years, Leigh-Ann Styles, 48, said she wasn’t aware of the several resources available to her and her neighborhood. She said the information provided was helpful, including that of ongoing BLM land cleanup efforts and an anonymous threat reporting system for Clark County’s students, parents and school faculty, Safe Voice Nevada.

“It was good to know about that and make everybody aware,” she said.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.