Ex-Las Vegas police detective announces run for sheriff

Former Las Vegas police Detective Gordon Martines announced his candidacy for Clark County sheriff over the weekend.

Martines, who was employed by the Metropolitan Police Department for more than three decades, is the third candidate to announce a run for sheriff, joining incumbent Joe Lombardo and former North Las Vegas police officer Tim Bedwell.

He said he believes teachers, along with other school personnel, should be voluntarily armed and properly trained to confront other armed people.

Martines also decried Bedwell’s proposal for Metro to absorb the Clark County School District’s police force, saying Metro officers would disapprove. Lombardo rejected the idea Thursday.

According to a statement announcing his candidacy, Martines is a member of the Oath Keepers. The organization’s website describes it as a nonpartisan association of current and formerly serving military, police and first responders who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to “defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

Civil rights organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center have called the Oath Keepers an extremist group founded on government conspiracy theories.

Calls to Martines were not immediately returned.

Martines sued Metro unsuccessfully in 2012, citing discrimination based on his race and age.

He ran unsuccessfully for sheriff in 2002, 2010 and 2014. He filed for candidacy in 2006 but later withdrew, county filing records indicate.

The candidate filing period begins today and continues through March 16.

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