Nye County deputy to run for sheriff in 2022 election

In terms of successfully running for office, experience, background and capability are all skills that are necessary to come out on top.

With that said, a man who has worked for more than three decades in the law enforcement profession has decided to run for Nye County sheriff.

Joe McGill retired from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department after 26 years where he worked patrol, the problem-solving unit, and narcotics, along with what’s known as the VIPER Auto Theft Task Force, as well as other various detective assignments.

He just recently made his announcement to run for sheriff and why he believes he’s the best person for the job.

Upon his retirement from Las Vegas Metro in 2013, he began working part-time for the Nye County Sheriff’s Office in 2014 and has continued to this day.

Law enforcement experience

“I have worked as a general assignment detective, patrol and as a traffic deputy,” McGill said. “I have the experience in a variety of positions that are needed to lead the Nye County Sheriff’s Office in order to make needed changes and improvements. Since I’ve been working here for the last seven and a half years, there’s a lot of really good things about this department, but there are improvements that need to be made, and I think that I can make those improvements for the benefit of the community and for the department.”

Keeping deputies in Nye County

Among some of the improvements within the sheriff’s office, McGill expressed his concern about keeping experienced deputies in Nye County.

“I think that our employee retention process needs to be changed,” he said. “We keep losing too many deputies from this department to other agencies. These are qualified deputies, and that’s a big investment because you put a lot of money into hiring, going through the academy, training, and getting the equipment for them to start their job. If they stay here for a year or two and they move on to another agency, we are losing our investment. We’re losing that money that we initially invested into that individual.”

McGill also provided his thoughts about why young deputies who are hired in Nye County eventually decide to leave.

He suggested that some look at the Nye County Sheriff’s Office as a starting point in their respective careers.

“There’s always going to be a certain level of that within a small agency,” he noted. “There’s always going to be a certain level of this agency being a stepping point to a larger agency. However, there is a morale problem that needs to be addressed in the Nye County sheriff’s department, and I think that’s a really big aspect as to why people are leaving. I’ve got a lot of experience and a lot of training. I’m not saying that this department is doing it wrong, but I think that we need to look at some of the things that we do and can improve on, as well as providing better law enforcement services for the community.”

Understaffed sheriff’s office

Taking his point a bit further, McGill said that at present, the sheriff’s office is in immediate need of additional staffing.

“We are understaffed right now and they are not able to keep up with the attrition at this point,” he lamented. “If we get 10 people into an academy, and we graduate five, and over the next year we lose another six, then we’re behind the eight-ball. We need to work on finding qualified candidates, hiring qualified candidates, and keeping them working here.”

Issues with vehicles and equipment

Yet another topic of concern for McGill is the present state of some of the sheriff’s department vehicles and equipment.

“We need changes to our equipment level because the deputies are responding to calls for service in cars that have over 200,000 miles on them,” he said. “It’s not out of the ordinary that you’ll hear a deputy say they broke down en route to a call, so we need to work on getting our equipment updated, and getting better and newer equipment. We need to get additional manpower because that’s our biggest thing. We also need to work on training, which needs to be adapted to current-day standards. We need to consider looking at other tactics and procedures that will work better and make things happen more smoothly and provide a better service for the community.”

The need for more funding

In order to address the staffing and equipment issues facing the sheriff’s office, McGill stressed the importance of additional funding sources.

“You never have enough money, so I want to work on getting funding from other resources, whether it be federal or state grants, or even outside sources. I want to work on getting more money from the county commission to fund the sheriff’s department because without money, you can’t have the personnel and you can’t have the equipment because obviously without people and equipment you have no law enforcement.”

Differing opinions within the community

McGill went on to say that over the years, he’s learned that though there are many people in the community that are satisfied with the way things work with the sheriff’s office, at the same time, there’s also a lot of people that are not.

“I want to work with both of those groups,” he noted. “I want to keep things that are an asset in place and continue those procedures, however, there are things that need to be changed and things that need to be tweaked so we can and look at doing something different.”

Realities in law enforcement

As a longtime law enforcement officer, McGill spoke about some of the more challenging aspects of his career.

“I think it’s the fact that you can’t please everybody,” he said. “No matter what happens, somebody is going to be upset and that’s just one of the realities. You do the best you can and you try to keep public opinion on your side as the head of a law enforcement agency, but the reality is, you just can’t please everyone. The bigger aspect of that is I love law enforcement and I’ve been doing this coming up on 35 years. This is what I have committed my entire adult life to and I’m not ready to give it up. I do believe that I’m the most qualified candidate.”

The 2022 Nevada primary election will be held on Tuesday, June 14.

For those who wish to share their thoughts or have questions and concerns about the Nye County Sheriff’s Office, McGill can be contacted via Facebook, where he plans to post future “meet-and-greet” dates.

McGill and his wife have lived in the Pahrump Valley since 2008.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes