The Metropolitan Police Department’s top cop said he’s tired of his officers having to deal with “broken and mangled” bodies on Las Vegas Valley roads, the result of fatal crashes caused by bad driving. So what does Sheriff Kevin McMahill want to do about it? Install red-light and speed cameras throughout the valley, joining a nationwide trend in traffic enforcement first launched in Arizona in 1987 that has since expanded to more than 200 communities in the United States . Efforts to bring traffic cameras to Nevada have repeatedly failed over the years, but McMahill thinks that 2025 might be the right time.
“When you have to go out and deal with that stuff over and over, it hurts the heart, mind, body and soul of the men and women that are out here doing this work. And for me, it’s just too much,” McMahill said. But in Nevada, police can’t install traffic cameras — yet.
State law says traffic cameras can only be used when held in a police officer’s hand or installed in a police vehicle or facility. McMahill said he is in conversation with legislators — many of whom are up for re-election in November — about changing this law during the 2025 session so cameras could provide traffic enforcement without an officer present. For the sheriff, the issue comes down to bad driving behavior in Las Vegas, and he said a larger police presence couldn’t change this behavior the same way traffic cameras could, halting growing numbers of traffic fatalities.
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