[gowron8]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to officially nominate Las Vegas as the permanent site of the NBA All-Star Game. Also the NHL and MLB ASGs, the Pro Bowl, the Super Bowl, the Final Four (yeah right), etc.

... Or at least, I hope they go back there once I'm bankrolled and able to move out to Vegas.

[/ QUOTE ]


The NBA all star game here every year?....that's a wonderful idea...as we can be assured of having at least one weekend each year when thugs (of all races) descend upon our pristine city and harass, assault, burglarize, and shoot patrons and workers up and down the strip (Although you'll probably never hear about it through the media I know for a fact there were major shootings at Caesars and Paris and I've heard there were others). I know a lot of people that work in the service industry on the strip...I've talked to several this weekend and they've all stressed how miserable and disturbing it was.
Granted there was a lot of money being thrown around, but it was a bad scene here.

[/ QUOTE ]

The shootings were discussed in the media, and they were in both scenarios people who knew one another. No workers were harmed in any of the shootings, and none were even at risk unless you have information that is not public knowledge.

According to last night's news report there were just under 300 arrests this weekend (up from an average of 18/day if I remember correctly) with the vast majority of them being petty larceny. As the police chief pointed out anytime you bring that many people to Las Vegas there is bound to be a criminal element that will follow. As a former NYC resident I can verify this theory(small sample size of course), crime skyrockets anytime there is a political convention.

TT [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

TT, I have not heard anything from the mainstream media outlets regarding the shootings at Caesars and Paris (if you have I would be curious to know as to where). The 4 shooting incidents I have seen reported (specifically on Channel 8) are the shooting out side the Minxx (two employees were shot), in the parking garage at the MGM where a guy was shot in the hip, near the old Stardust where a guy was shot in the stomach several times, and some woman outside the Bellagio fired shots in the air (although I heard this had to do with a confrontation with another woman in an adjacent car). At least two workers (at Minxx) were harmed (and are in critical condition). I'm also of the opinion that if a worker (or anyone) is in the general vacinity of a shooting in a public place, that person is, by definition, at risk. I should also point out that every person I know that works on the strip that I've talked to has said that he/she was surrounded by thugs the entire weekend and did not feel safe.
The number of arrests made (even if the police are giving us the accurate numbers) really has very little to do with the repeated incidences of violent crimes this past weekend. As far as I can tell, no arrests have been made in regards to any of the four shootings that the media did report on, and even if arrests had been made...so what...the shootings still occured. Not to mention the fights, beatings, and other shootings I've heard about (from people that I know who work on the strip). No, I can't prove it, but I do believe (and so does every other local I've talked with that worked/was on the strip last weekend) that the mainstream media has covered up many of the violent crimes that took place last weekend.
Obviously any time a city hosts a major event which attracts a lot of people, there will be an increase in the incidence of crime, but come on? Vegas hosts all sorts of big events whether it's New Years Eve, Super Bowl weekend, nation rodeo event, and we've never seen anything close to this level of dispicable behavior, crime, and violence on the strip in one weekend.