A candidate for Clark County sheriff wants to get rid of the Clark County School District Police Department and have the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department take over the job of policing public schools.
Tim Bedwell is a former North Las Vegas Police Officer running against Sheriff Joe Lombardo.
Wednesday, Bedwell announced his proposal which he believes would make Clark County schools more safe.
"The school district has about 140 police officers they can field. There's about 300-350 schools. They don't have the resources to do this. The sheriff's department does," Bedwell said.
Under his proposal, the school district police department would be "absorbed" over time. Current school police officers would receive additional training.
"If the vast majority of the people that respond to a school incident are on the same agency, same page, same training, we're going to be able to get it done faster, better, and safer," he said.
The President of the Police Officers Association of CCSD Matt Caldwell called the proposal ill-informed.
"'We already have a great relationship with Metro currently. We work really well with them," Caldwell said.
Caldwell said he'd like to see whoever is elected sheriff focus on strengthening partnerships.
"Let's come up with a plan together to keep school police how it is but add more bodies to our department," he said.
The captain of the Clark County School District Police Department declined to comment on this story. The campaign for Sheriff Joe Lombardo did not return a request for comment.
