By Akiya Dillon
Las Vegas Review-Journal
LAS VEGAS — Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill announced two new projects on Friday that he said his department would undertake this year.
In one, the Metropolitan Police Department would expand its global intelligence and counterterrorism efforts, and in another, build its own “AI brain.”
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During the Metro’s yearly State of the Department address at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the sheriff announced the news and highlighted the department’s successes and challenges from 2025.
He touted the event as “an opportunity to show the community what this police department — what this collective Southern Nevada first responder community — has accomplished with the support of so many of our elected officials and what the men and women of LVMPD have gone out and done day in and day out.”
Among the accomplishments, McMahill said, was the 58 percent decrease in police shootings from 2024 to 2025. Also, the department saw 90 homicides last year, which McMahill, who took office in 2023, described as Metro’s lowest on record.
“Ninety is still far too many,” McMahill said. “But we’re going to continue that downward trend as we move forward. In fact, we’re already at a downward trend at the beginning of this year, and I’m extremely proud of what these guys have done.”
McMahill also said that traffic fatalities were an “area we didn’t do so well” in the last year. As in previous years’ addresses, McMahill said that the department’s goal was to reduce the number of fatal crashes within Metro’s jurisdiction.
More than 160 people died in crashes in Metro’s jurisdiction in 2024. In 2025, that number rose by three. But McMahill said the issue was not simply a police or enforcement problem, especially given that Metro issued 60 percent more citations than the year before, but a societal problem.
He said the same about the valley’s homelessness issue, adding that 13 homeless people died by homicide in 2025. McMahill said that the department had not done enough to address the problem.
“I’m finally getting to the point where everybody understands it’s not a Metro problem,” McMahill said. “So (we’re) inviting electeds in, the city, the county, nonprofits and others that have a heart to help us to try new strategies.”
Officer wellness
The sheriff mentioned officer wellness as a special area of interest for the department. The department has gone two years without an officer suicide, which McMahill said had not happened since he joined the department 35 years ago.
Toward the event’s conclusion, McMahill highlighted the department’s technological progress.
He said that in 2026, Metro plans to initiate the Meridian project, which will set up a 24/7 real-time analysis desk to expand counterterrorism readiness. The project will be financed by over a million dollars in private donations and will create a global intelligence network, allowing Metro staff to be stationed in and travel to other cities to collaborate with partner agencies facing similar terrorist threats.
“When instability rises overseas, whether it’s in the Middle East or other regions, it doesn’t stay there,” McMahill said. “It travels through ideology, through online platforms.”
He referenced the 2025 Cybertruck explosion, a biohazard lab linked to Chinese citizens investigated by law enforcement last month and the recent bombing at Piero’s Italian Cuisine.
Another new project, the AI-powered K.V.N., or Knowledge Value Network Project , will interconnect the department’s technology system to ensure that information “flows smoothly, securely, and intelligently,” the sheriff said.
McMahill offered an example of a suspect released from prison years after committing a series of robberies, only for similar crimes to start happening again. He said those connections can get lost when the original detectives have moved on, but new integrated systems would allow investigators to cross-reference details such as the suspect’s operating method, vehicle, and prison release records, to identify repeat offenders much faster.
McMahill called the project futuristic, adding that it would allow officers to spend less time buried in paperwork and more focused on leadership, accountability, and service.
“I’m not good at technology, but I know how to build teams. I know how to cast a vision,” McMahill said. “This will be one of the most impactful technology projects we’ve ever embarked on, and it will enhance every aspect of our organization, from crime fighting to employee wellness.”
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
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