Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Wednesday he is OK with a police sergeant’s decision not to issue a traffic citation to Gov. Joe Lombardo for a suspected red light violation.
“I don’t have any problems with what the officer did,” McMahill said, adding officers are given discretion on whether to issue citations for minor traffic infractions like the one the governor was pulled over for.
Lombardo was behind the wheel of a pickup truck, headed to Harry Reid International Airport with his wife, Donna, when he was pulled over May 15 near Mandalay Bay. Body camera video of the traffic stop has since prompted national media attention and a debate in the Las Vegas Valley as to whether the former Clark County sheriff was seeking special treatment during his re-election bid for the governor’s office.
The video shows the sergeant approaching Lombardo’s vehicle on the passenger side of the truck.
“Hello. How are you doing, sir?” the sergeant says.
“Good,” the governor responds.
The sergeant introduces himself and says, “The reason I’m stopping you is for the —”
“I’m Joe Lombardo,” the governor says before the officer can complete his sentence.
“I’m aware,” the officer responds. “For the red light violation back there. Your right turn onto Giles —”
“Come on, man,” Lombardo interjects.
“You are good to go, sir. Appreciate you. Have a good day,” the sergeant states.
McMahill said Wednesday he didn’t know about the traffic stop until the Metropolitan Police Department received a public records request seeking video. McMahill said the officer has the discretion to not write a citation under the circumstances. He said so far this year Metro has carried out roughly 210,000 traffic stops and about 140,000 have resulted in citations to drivers.
“Just the data in and of itself tells you that there are 60,000 instances or more of discretion utilized by police officers on the scene, so I don’t see it as all that different than what occurs on a daily basis,” McMahill said.
Asked if he thought Lombardo was seeking special treatment by identifying himself prior to the sergeant being able to complete his sentence, McMahill said “I didn’t interpret it that way.”
“The fact that he identified himself to the officer that stopped him — I didn’t have any issues with that,” McMahill said.
Lombardo’s campaign said he was not seeking special treatment and was introducing himself “as a matter of courtesy.”
“At no point did the Governor invoke his office and seek — or expect — preferential treatment,” the campaign said.
The Nevada State Democratic Party said Tuesday “Lombardo was caught using his position of power to avoid accountability after breaking the law and being pulled over by a Metro Police officer trying to do their job.”
The Democratic Governors Association issued a statement saying the video “is more proof that Joe Lombardo is a corrupt and out-of-touch politician who thinks he can play by a different set of rules than everyday Nevadans.”
Richard M. Hough Sr. is a professor of criminal justice and criminology at East Tennessee State University. After reviewing the video he said in an email he found the stop to be an “uneventful, routine stop.”
He said police conduct tens of millions of traffic stops each year and that fewer than half result in a citation.
Alex del Carmen is the dean of Westfield State University College of Professional Studies in Massachusetts. He has been a criminologist for 28 years and reviewed thousands of bodycam and dashcam videos.
He found Lombardo’s interjection of his name as the officer was speaking to be “unusual.”
“Most people who get stopped would not simply volunteer their first and last name without being asked,” del Carmen said.
He, too, said officers have great leeway in whether to issue a citation.
“In the world in which we live today, where people are demanding accountability — especially in instances where the person is a dignitary or someone who is well known to the community — if I would have been him, I would have at the very least considered giving this person a citation because no one is above the law,” del Carmen said.
Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.
