Clark County empowers police to shut down defiant businesses

Nevada businesses deemed nonessential that have refused to shutter amid the coronavirus crisis despite a state order have until midnight Friday to do so.

If those in unincorporated Clark County persist, they should expect a visit from Metro Police’s special investigations unit. A detective will hand them a copy of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s emergency order to shut down, a letter from Metro and a stern warning: Close now or we will do it for you.

Metro Lt. Nathan Chio hopes the visit will do. Clark County commissioners late Friday held an emergency meeting and unanimously passed an ordinance that delegated punitive power to the police department.

Consequences for resisting the multiple warnings and formal requests include fines, license revocations and gross misdemeanor counts for endangering public safety. Previously, Metro was only allowed to shut down businesses for eight hours.

Officials said fines for defying the order can cost up to $1,000 per violation, per day.

It wasn’t immediately clear how Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas planned to enforce Sisolak’s order that operations such as bars, clubs and salons close their doors until April 16, when the order expires.

Governments have implemented social distancing strategies to try to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease that has wreaked havoc, infecting more than 275,000 people worldwide, killing more than 11,000 as of Friday. In Clark County, 126 people have tested positive for the virus, which has killed two, both in Clark County.

In Nevada, casinos and other bedrock industries shut down after Sisolak’s gave the informal order Tuesday, but not all businesses heeded the warning. Metro said Thursday it was powerless to enforce the directive without an executive order from Sisolak.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Friday morning he anticipated it was coming, and Sisolak delivered in the afternoon, but charged jurisdictions with implementing their own enforcement.

County commissioners did just that Friday night.