After four years leading the homicide unit at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Lieutenant Ray Spencer is retiring.

We talk to him about a rise in Southern Nevada homicides, access to guns and his heroic role on One October.

Plus, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford explains what a new settlement with opioid manufacturers means for the state and its fight against opioid addiction.

♪♪♪ Support for Nevada Week is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt and additional supporting sponsors.

Welcome to Nevada Week; I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the use of guns in homicides is a growing public health problem in the United States, and it's an issue that Metro's homicide unit is seeing firsthand, said Lieutenant Ray Spencer in a recent interview.

For the past four years, Lieutenant Ray Spencer has led the homicide unit of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and after 20 years in law enforcement, he's getting ready to retire.

This after a busy year for Metro's homicide unit.

Lieutenant Spencer, thank you so much for joining us.

-Thanks for having me.

-So 2021, there were 152 valleywide murders, a 49% increase from 2020.

What do you attribute that to?

(Lt. Ray Spencer) Well, you know, we've been seeing an increase since 2019.

So 2019 we had a record low number of murders that we investigated, and then it went up in 2020.

And then in 2021 we saw a tremendous increase, almost 50%.

You know, it's a concerning number, but the one thing I always like to make sure I mention is out of the high number of homicides that we investigated, our solvability percentage leads the nation at 93%.

So even with the increase in the homicide numbers, we're still seeing that we're solving 93% of them.

Now, when you look at "why," that's the question that, you know, I always look at and you see some alarming trends.

One of the things is everybody seems to have a stolen gun on them that they're, you know, getting from residential burglaries, they're getting from car burglaries, and even younger and younger kids are now in possession of stolen firearms.

So that's one of the issues, and then the other issue is you're seeing suspects and victims of homicides, they're having such an extensive criminal history.

You know, one of the most alarming ones, I had a suspect who had 151 arrests from the state of California which, you know, that's just an alarming number of how many times can someone be involved in the criminal justice system?

That's what you're starting to see a huge increase in.

-What can be done about that particular problem?

-Well, it's a tough question, right?

You know, you look at-- the police can only do so much as far as, you know, the criminal justice system in all honesty is bursting at the seams.

You have the police, you have the district attorney, you have the courts, and it's just a lot of moving parts.

You know, we do the best we can and we have a great success rate in our homicide prosecutions, but at the end of the day, you know, we're seeing-- right now I have more than four dozen murder suspects out on house arrest.

So you're seeing a lot of trends that are basically just kind of going soft on crime, which is leading to our increase in crime.

-Why on earth would a murder suspect be on house arrest?

-Well, that's the question.

I mean, you have to weigh-- the judge makes those determinations, the judge, and it's important to recognize that person has not been convicted of a crime, so that's important as well.

But you're seeing that, and when you think of that, if you have more than 50 murder suspects on house arrest, what other-- that's the pinnacle of the criminal justice system when you look at crime.

So if you're looking at other crimes, you know, are those being prosecuted and are the sentences what they should be, and that's the million-dollar question.

-Back to easy access to guns, what has changed to make the access easier?

You talked about stolen guns.

I mean, are people-- I don't understand how that increase is.

-What we're seeing is like I said, our offenders are becoming younger and younger.

You know, last year we had a 14-year-old who we arrested for two separate murders and multiple robberies that occurred on the east side of the valley.

He was in possession of a gun.

You look at-- you know, I could go on and on on some of these cases where people are able to get their hands on stolen guns and, you know, it's not your law-abiding gun owner.

What it is, you have people that are committing burglaries and robberies, and they're getting a hold of guns that-- you know, I think as a community, we need to educate people that are gun owners that they need to secure their firearm.

Make sure you know your serial number to your firearm.

If you're going to have it in your nightstand, it needs to be locked up.

These are things that would help our community and reduce violent crime because it's going to prevent a lot of people who should not have guns getting possession of them.

-In reference to gun laws following the October One mass shooting, largest mass shooting in U.S. history, there were some changes to state law including banning bump stocks, which allow a weapon to be fired off at such a rapid speed.

What else do you think remains to be done in that area?

-Well, right now like I said, when you look at firearms in the community, the biggest thing-- and I stress this-- it's not your law-abiding gun owner that we're seeing guns in the possession of.

What we're seeing is a 17-year-old who does a residential burglary, gets a gun from a house and then they're in possession of it.

The other thing we're seeing is you have convicted someone who gets out of prison, they steal a gun, and they're in possession of a gun.

That crime, we need to see an increased level of prosecution, especially at the federal level, because it's always been a crime for an ex-felon to be in possession of a firearm, and we're seeing more and more of them in possession of guns, and that's an alarming trend.

-Back to your career.

You were at the October One shooting.

You were there supervising 50 officers who were working overtime, and then this unfolded and you ran toward the gunshots.

-Yes, it was definitely the worst day of my life.

You know, I was working overtime that shift and was in the command post, and what I originally thought were fireworks, and it was about 30 seconds in after the first break that I looked up at the video wall and Jason Aldean had stopped playing the guitar and that's when I saw all the people running when we ran out of the command post, running down Las Vegas Boulevard.

It's definitely a scary thought because as I say, I'm running against, you know, fish upstream.

You had thousands of people running away, and I'm trying to get through the crowd to-- at that time I thought was somebody at ground level and, you know, it took me probably about a minute before I realized that we were taking fire from above.

-How did that change your life?

-It puts things in perspective.

You know, it's the first time that I truly did not know if I was going to make it home to hug my kids and see my wife and, you know, you realize that tomorrow's not a guarantee.

And it really was a horrific day, and I'll never forget that.

The thing I tell people is when we went after what we-- we didn't realize that was the end.

We thought it was the break in gunfire, but when we went to the main stage to check on victims, the amount of cell phones that were ringing in people's pockets and, you know, people that will never see their loved ones again, you'll never forget.

And it really is-- you know, I have to focus on the positives of that day and it could have been a lot worse for hundreds, if not thousands of more people.

But truly, you know, what I love to focus on about that is how Vegas came together on October 2, and I'll never forget that feeling that-- you know, to say this was one big community was an understatement.

-And also how much better prepared-- well, you tell me-- Las Vegas now is should anything like that happen again.

-Yes.

Obviously I mean, we as a police agency, we went back and we looked at things that we can improve on, and you know, I think you're not going to find a more prepared police agency in the United States than Las Vegas Metro Police.

And when it deals with how we take efforts to protect the community, the proactive work that we do and our engagement with the community is second to none.

You look at some of the lessons that were learned, and we've taken some steps to even make our response even greater than it was that day.

And, you know, I couldn't be any more proud of the 50 people that were out there that day with me and the response that we had.

-You received the Medal of Valor from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for that proudest moment of your career?

-You know, I've had a lot of great moments in my career.

That was definitely the worst day of my entire life, but you look back on things that you've done in your career, my time in homicide has definitely been the most proud of my career.

You know, there's not many assignments where family members come up and hug you and thank you for bringing justice to the victim and their families.

But at the same token, it's a very challenging assignment because anytime people see me on television or I'm out on a call, it's never anything good.

It's always a horrific scene, and you can only deal with so much, you know, murder in your life and it does, it definitely weighs on you.

-Well, what do you think the impact has been on you when you are exposed to these repeated tragedies, especially with children?

I mean, it was just two months ago that you had to go out to a scene where there was a four-year-old boy dead in a freezer.

What's the impact been on you?

How do you process all that?

-You know, I'd be lying if I said it doesn't affect you, right?

I mean, I've had some horrific cases over the last four years.

Daniel Theriot at Sunset Park was a horrific case.

Obviously, you know, the little boy from a few months ago.

Liam Husted last summer on the mountain.

You know, the child cases are the worst, especially when you have kids, you know, those type of things, and you just have to focus on the fact that someone has to do that assignment.

If there's no one to do that assignment, then you would have people that are getting away with such horrific crimes.

You know, I have some of the greatest detectives that work for me, and they just go out every day trying to make sure they're trying to make this community better and bring justice to these families, and that's what gets you through those cases.

-We are running out of time, but I was so intrigued by an interview I watched with you on YouTube.

It was very long form, but you brought up with all the child cases you've seen and involving babies that you realize postpartum depression involving mothers is a very real issue.

How well do you believe it's understood?

-You know, I didn't have that understanding until I took over the homicide section because, you know, I've had so many horrific cases where mothers have killed their children.

You know, you look back, I mean, I can only look back at raising my own kids, and I have my wife at home and I have the support and those type of things.

But I can't-- you know, the stress that these women are under in these cases, there's no way-- no one can ever tell me that postpartum depression is not a real thing, and I think it's something as a community, as the medical community and just everyone needs to recognize that it's a concern, and that's what I-- if you're asking me, you know, what drives a lot of those cases, there's no question that's part of it.

-Last thing, I meant to update.

So far this year, 35 murders to this date, same amount as this time last year.

What does that indicate to you?

-Well, again last year was a very high year, and we were still looking at ways to make sure that we go down from last year, and that's the thing that's important that as a police agency, we got to make sure we're addressing that and doing everything we can to keep violent crime low in our community.

-Lieutenant Ray Spencer, thank you for your service.

-Thank you.

-Nevada Week took some of Lieutenant Spencer's concerns to state Attorney General Aaron Ford.

Here's how he responded followed by what process he says is in place to determine the best uses of $71 million in settlement money to combat Nevada's opioid crisis.

We did an interview with Lieutenant Ray Spencer of Metro's homicide division recently, and he talked about the increase in homicides last year, attributing it to what he said is easy access to guns, and in particular, stolen guns.

I'm wondering what you think about that issue and what can be done about it.

(Aaron Ford) Well, he and I absolutely agree that Las Vegas has a gun problem.

You know, we have worked with our partners at the federal level and at the state level and at the municipal level to try to figure out ways in which to curb gun violence, but access to guns is an issue but particularly it's an issue for those who shouldn't have guns, violent criminals, domestic abusers, so we want to ensure that we can do all that we can to help keep those individuals from getting access to guns.

That includes having responsible gun owners like myself, for example, to lock up their guns and to ensure that they are secure.

-Lieutenant Spencer did mention ex-felons being in possession of guns, and I'm wondering if it's possible that these ex-felons could be prosecuted at an even higher level.

-Yes.

Well again, working with our partners, we have federal prosecutors on that particular issue, and we certainly have district attorneys around the state who will be prosecuting felons in possession of firearms.

They're not supposed to have them, and when we learn that they do have them, they absolutely should be prosecuted.

-The lieutenant also talked about the extensive criminal histories that he's seeing in homicide suspects, in particular one suspect who had 151 prior arrests out of the state of California before getting arrested here in Nevada.

Is there anything that can be done at the state level between states, or is that just wishful thinking?

-Certainly not wishful thinking, and I think there's obviously a communication gap oftentimes between the different states and jurisdictions in our country, and we could always improve in that communication arena.

But again, when we're talking about ex-felons, or ex-offenders who are in the possession of firearms, they're not supposed to have them, and it's incumbent upon us to ensure that when we run across those types of individuals that we address it properly, which includes prosecutions.

-I mean, you can't really track people across state lines, can you?

-There are certain registration rules and requirements for certain felony individuals who go across states.

Sex offenders for example have to register when they arrive in a new location.

So there are ways to track certain offenders as they move in between states.

-How do you differentiate the need to come down hard on certain criminals or help to rehabilitate criminals?

-Listen, I don't think those things are mutually exclusive.

You can come down hard on violent criminals while at the same time doing our job in the penal system, which is to also rehabilitate them.

Most of these individuals will in fact be reentering society, so it remains incumbent upon society to help ensure that they are ready for reintegration.

And that's the reason why for example we have educational classes in the prisons, a bill that I sponsored.

One of the ways, they can get course credits towards an associate's degree.

That's one of the reasons why we have vocational training in the prisons because again, it's that recognition that these aren't mutually exclusive.

You have to punish those who are the wrongdoers, but you likewise have to prepare society and them, the individuals who have committed these crimes, for reentry into society.

-And do you think the reentry aspect, the need to rehabilitate criminals, is a requirement that is understood by the general public?

-I think the general public as a general matter does understand the importance of rehabilitation.

Look, in law school we learned that there are four or five, depending on what book you're reading, purposes of the criminal justice system, of the criminal law: To punish, which we're very good at; to isolate, which we're very good at, but also to rehabilitate and also to restore.

We're very good at the first two, not so good at the second two, so what we have to endeavor to do is to continue to do our job irrespective of, you know, those who want to use pejorative terms like soft on crime or whatever the case may be.

I'm going to do my job, and my job is inclusive of all four of those approaches to the criminal justice system.

-Are those last two aspects personal to you?

-Well, they're all important to me, and they're all personal to me.

I went to law school, I took an oath in this particular job to pursue justice, and justice includes the punishment component but also the restoration component, and they're all equally important to me.

-You've said in the past that Nevada continues to be one of the hardest-hit states by the opioid crisis.

Why do you think that is?

-Yes.

Well, I mean the recent trends relative to that frankly have more to do with illicit drugs than they do with the initial onset of opioid overdoses that we saw which was distribution and manufacturing of pills.

So we've seen fentanyl coming into our state.

We've seen a lot of deaths in that regard.

In 2020 during the height of the pandemic, we saw a 40% increase in overdose deaths, many of which are attributed again to illicit use.

But what we're doing through the opiate litigation is attack the issue from one prong.

There are several prongs to this, fentanyl being one of the prongs, that we're also working with law enforcement on, at the district attorney level and at the federal level to ensure there are criminal penalties for those who are selling for example fentanyl-laced drugs and causing deaths.

I see our partnerships there again, looking at this from a partnership perspective, so that we can understand that, you know, it's not a "one shoe fits all," a "one size fits all" approach to addressing this, but some of it relates to the pills, some of it relates to the illicit use.

-And am I understanding it correctly that the people who are getting fentanyl are thinking they're getting opioids, and then it turns out to be a mistake and then they die as a result?

-In some instances.

I mean, some are pursuing fentanyl because they want fentanyl, right?

But oftentimes people are buying pills they think are opioids, and those opioids are laced with fentanyl.

One pill can kill.

That's one of the mantras that we're trying to instill within children these days, because we're also seeing it happening in our middle school and our high schools.

So educating individuals that it's frankly not just the pills though is also important.

Sometimes fentanyl is laced in marijuana, sometimes it's laced in methamphetamines.

So there are so many different tactics and approaches we have to be cognizant of and we have to address, and working again in partnership with local officials and federal officials is one of the ways to do that.

-You mentioned foster children, and that stuck out to me.

Is there a significant impact on foster children as a result of the opioid crisis?

-Well, I mean, we know that again families have been affected by this.

You know, if a child's parents or parent falls prey to an overdose, a fatal overdose, then that child likely becomes a foster child, and we have a foster care system that has likewise reeled from that particular impact that opioids has had, and that's just an example that I provided, it's exclusive to something else, but I do know there is a great concern about how the foster care system has been impacted, and I do know that these funds which will be given to the state will likewise be utilized to address some of those issues in that particular system.

-Back to the opioid settlement.

Why did you pursue these drug companies?

-Well, they did so many things, and our lawsuit is hundreds of pages long and included 61 defendants.

We have about 50 left now because we settled with a handful of them.

Last month we were able to bring in $50 million more to help address this issue.

By the end of next July, we will have brought in another $20 million.

So, you know, this lawsuit seeks to hold those accountable whether they are the distributors, whether they are the manufacturers, whether they are the pharmacies that were improperly dispensing medications in this instance.

We want to hold them accountable for the work that they did.

I mean, we even have held accountable a consulting company that helped other companies increase the "pill mill" approach, so to speak.

So, you know, these individuals have lied, they downplayed the addictive nature of opioids, and they essentially had other reasons why these pills ran amok in Nevada, one of the hardest-hit states in the whole nation.

-So how much money is Nevada getting in these settlements, and it's already been determined how much money each county and litigating city gets, but how is that money going to be spent?

-It was a cooperative effort.

My office in fact took the lead to ensure that we could convene the counties and municipalities because this isn't a state-only issue.

This isn't a Clark County-only issue, it's not an Elko County issue or a City of Ely issue only.

It's a statewide issue, so we convened representatives from all over the state to talk about a fair allocation of monies that we were to receive because there's a limited pot of money to be sure, we want to ensure there was a fair allocation model that we set up, and we were able to accommodate that, to accomplish that through what we call the One Nevada Agreement.

I'm proud that we have signatories throughout the entire state on it, and it makes it easier for us to settle with some of the larger defendants because then they know you settle with the state, you settle with entire state.

You don't have to worry about other municipalities suing and then continuing to dwindle against the pot that frankly not only Nevada needs but other states as well.

Your second question was how is the state going to determine how the monies are to be spent?

It goes back to what I said a second ago about the Committee for a Resilient Nevada.

I will be bringing home the settlement funds and making no decisions relative to how the money is spent.

I will give it over, give it over to the legislature which created a committee that's going to be run by the Department of Health and Human Services.

This isn't an ivory tower committee.

This is a committee of folks who are working on the ground whether they be doctors, addiction specialists, social workers, members from the foster care arena and service providers, and they will be coming up with a needs assessment.

And then I believe by the end of the summer, they will have a better understanding of how the monies are going to be spent based on the needs assessment that has been created.

The one aside that I will make is I do chair the Substance Use Response Working Group, SURG, as we call it, and we are able to make recommendations to the Committee for a Resilient Nevada in these same areas.

-Based on that experience, what would your recommendations be?

-One of the reasons why foster care came to mind was because we hear a lot about that in that committee, whether it's in public comment or whether it's from people who are on that committee.

We also want to ensure there is an equitable distribution among different demographics in the state because it has hit certain communities harder than others.

-And I go back to why do you think Nevada was hit so hard, is it a demographic related issue?

-I don't know.

I don't know if we have a causal connection between, you know, some particular issue that happens in Nevada and that ultimately led to this being the case, but we know that it is the case and we know that some of it was because again of the targeting of places that-- I mean, we have some rural communities that received more pills doled out than the entire population, which doesn't sound abnormal at some level but I mean in multiples, right?

I mean, exponentially.

So we have determined through our discovery, we've gone through terabytes of information, dozens of depositions.

We've put in hours upon hours of work to learn that some of these companies were absolutely targeting particular communities because these communities appeared to be more vulnerable relative to the advertisements that they put into that particular community and the response to those advertisements.

So I don't know what it was about these communities or our state that made us one of the most targeted places, but they worked, it worked, and we're going to hold them accountable for it.

-How do you think these settlements will impact the company's behaviors?

-Well, it's already impacting their behaviors.

One of the consulting companies that I mentioned earlier is no longer working in the arena of consulting on opioids.

We have what we call injunctive relief in place that are going to require certain companies to never distribute again in these particular forms of pills.

We're going to have a database of documents that allow us to hold others accountable that we may not already know of, and I think the actions that we're already seeing change are a direct result of some of the settlements that we've had, and we're proud of that.

-Thank you for joining us this week for Nevada Week.

For any resources discussed in this show, go to our website, vegaspbs.org/nevadaweek, and you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @vegaspbs.