Las Vegas Sun Editorial: “Step down, Mr. Lombardo. You’ve broken your bond of trust with our community, and tainted the badge you wear.”

Following the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s shocking report revealing Joe Lombardo’s corruption and deception as the head of LVMPD, Lombardo is now facing calls to step down as Clark County sheriff. With a spotlight on his lies to the public and his off-the-books immigration policy–and his refusal to give the public an explanation for his actions–Lombardo’s lack of integrity and transparency has reached the level of disqualifying.

Read the scathing column calling for Lombardo’s resignation below:

Las Vegas Sun Editorial: When a community can’t trust its sheriff, its sheriff must resign

November 23, 2021

Key points:

• For years, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo led our community to believe his department wasn’t working with federal officials to deport nonviolent undocumented immigrants.
  
• He deceived us. And now, having shown himself as a man who categorically cannot be trusted, he should resign.
  
• A new investigative report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal revealed that Metro Police have helped Immigrations and Customs Enforcement capture individuals jailed for nonviolent crimes in recent years, under a secret policy it adopted in October 2019. The policy change came one day after Metro announced it had pulled out of a partnership with ICE under the now-discontinued federal 287(g) program, which encouraged local law enforcement departments to work with the feds on deportations of both violent and nonviolent individuals.
  
• However, it turns out that Metro, under its clandestine policy change, has been alerting ICE when nonviolent offenders are going to be released from custody, allowing federal agencies to wait outside the Clark County Detention Center and pick up the immigrants. It’s all being done off the books — since Metro isn’t officially turning over custody of the detainees, it doesn’t have to report its activities.
  
• It’s appalling that Lombardo would make this policy switch, and do it under cover of darkness. He has outright lied to the residents of Clark County and its voters on an important policy matter.
  
• Clearly, too, he did it for political reasons, to appeal to extremist Republican voters with an eye to an eventual bid for higher office: Now he’s running for governor.
  
• His campaign is touting him as promoting a zero-tolerance policy on immigration, and he reportedly bragged to prospective voters that he had a hand in deporting 10,000 immigrants.
  
• Keep in mind that when Metro announced its previous stance, its lobbyist told lawmakers that Lombardo opted to stop aiding ICE on nonviolent cases after speaking with immigrant families and coming to the conclusion that they shouldn’t have to face the anguish of separation over something as minor as a traffic infraction or some other type of nonviolent offense.
  
• But when he decided to run for governor, his bogus concern for those families flew out of the window. He’s rapidly earning a nickname — Two-Faced Lombardo.
  
• In doing his 180, Lombardo not only betrayed those families but our entire community.
  
• In the case of Lombardo’s duplicitous policy change, it’s clearly a matter of a man without a shred of honor chasing votes from anti-immigrant Republicans.
  
• He’s shown himself as a political hack of the first order. We’ve called for his resignation before, based on his refusal to disavow the Big Lie and answer questions about the growing presence of violent extremist groups like the Proud Boys in the Nevada Republican Party.
  
• Lombardo appealed to Clark County voters in his runs for sheriff precisely because he presented himself, dishonestly as it turns out, as a moderate leader. Now we see his true face — neither moderate nor honest nor brave in his convictions. He is a craven politician who will do or say anything that’s convenient…Lombardo is just a groveling toady like Lindsey Graham, one of the flip-flopping, politically rudderless and spineless exemplars of what has happened to GOP politics.
  
• The reason Lombardo should relinquish his position is simple: He’s increasingly showing that his political ambitions are at odds with his sworn duty to protect and serve all members of our community, regardless of their political affiliation. That’s why sheriff is a nonpartisan position in Clark County.
  
• Residents of our community shouldn’t have to wonder whether the top law enforcement officer will aggressively respond to violent extremists, or whether they’ll receive equal protection if they don’t support the Republican Party. Residents of our community shouldn’t have to worry if their sheriff is honest, a low bar Lombardo can’t clear any longer.
  
• Not only do Clark County residents deserve better, so do the men and women within Metro Police. They are entitled to a leader who doesn’t say one thing in public and another in private, which encourages a climate of secrecy and abuse in law enforcement. If the boss is willing to mislead the public, why wouldn’t the rank-and-file be tempted to do the same thing?
  
• Clark County needs a new sheriff, and right now, before we learn of any other situations in which Lombardo is acting on his political goals versus serving the best interests of Las Vegas.
  
• Step down, Mr. Lombardo. You’ve broken your bond of trust with our community, and tainted the badge you wear.

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