The Clark County Sheriff’s race has six candidates running for the office in Nevada.  Dan Barry, Mark F. Beckerle, Laurie P. Bisch, Tim Deam, Douglas C. Gillespie and Gordon Martines.  So who are all these people, and why is this race even interesting?

First, this race is very important to our community.  Nevada has the 3rd highest violent crime rate in the nation.  As the head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Sheriff’s office helps shape the policies that guide how we fight crime in this county.

After June 8th’s primary there will only be two candidates left.  That makes the decision a little easier.  Given political history holds true, the incumbent Doug Gillespie will likely make it that far.  So the primary is mainly about who will be his opponent.

This is a non-partisan race, so picking the candidate based on party line will not help here.  Let’s take a look at some of the candidates.

Dan Barry:

Here is a descriptor from Captain Barry’s Facebook Fan Page.

Captain Dan Barry recently retired from the LVMPD after a distinguished 30 year career. He rose through the ranks at Metro as an on-the-beat cop, undercover cop in narcotics, Sergeant for the Gang Unit and Narcotics Unit, Lieutenant for the Northeast Sub-Station, Internal Affairs and Resident/K9/MPU and Captain for the Gang Crimes, Special Investigations and Criminal Intelligence Divisions, among many others.

He is most well known for his service and key role in “Operation G Sting”, which resulted in the arrest, prosecution and jail time for 3 Clark County Commissioners, a former Clark County Commissioner and a strip club owner.

His thesis “Handling Police Misconduct in an Ethical Way” has been well read for the past 10 years.\

John L. Smith with the Las Vegas Review Journal added this:

Unlike some others who have challenged for the job in recent years, Barry brings a rock-solid work history inside Metro to the race.

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